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Drone inspection of wind turbines in France before qualification procedure Qualifoudre
Drone inspections are also becoming increasingly important in the French wind energy market. In this interview, Simon Segard reports on how ENERTRAG Betrieb has built up its inspection portfolio in France and what challenges had to be overcome, especially during the introduction of the combined 2-in-1 inspection of rotor blades and lightning protection systems. He also explains the current status of the Qualifoudre certification process and what advantages the planned certification will offer wind turbine operators in the future.
Question: What services does ENERTRAG Betrieb offer in the field of drone inspections in France, and how many inspections have you already carried out? What makes the approach special?
Answer: In France, ENERTRAG Betrieb performs the full range of drone inspections as in Germany. In 2025, our 5 certified drone pilots performed 213 visual rotor blade inspections, 30 LPS 2-in-1 inspections, thermal imaging inspection of a PV park and identification of 4 bird nests through thermal imaging.
The cooperation with our partners has been trusting and successful for several years.
Question: If we look back at the early days, what challenges were there in setting up drone inspections in France, and how did you overcome them?
Answer: Visual and thermal inspections have established themselves quickly and successfully. Our reliable partner enables us to carry out inspections automatically by drone and to create reports independently. This saves considerable time compared to manually working service providers and noticeably increases the quality of the results. The introduction of LPS inspections involved significantly more effort. Internally and externally, there were numerous challenges to overcome, which initially slowed down the process. But each of these hurdles helped us to further develop the product in a targeted manner. The prospects that result from this are promising.
Question: In France, a new certification for LPS inspections with drones has recently become mandatory. Where does ENERTRAG Betrieb currently stand in this process, and when do you plan to receive the certification? What does this mean for our customers?
Answer: In France, there is a new obligation to test lightning protection systems on rotor blades. Anyone who carries out an inspection by drone will need official certification in the future. ENERTRAG Betrieb is consistently following this path and positioning itself at the top of the market at an early stage.
The Qualifoudre certification process is underway and the successful completion is expected before the end of this year. The certification is comparable to ISO 9001. For operators of wind turbines, this means above all safety. They can trust that ENERTRAG Betrieb carries out the lightning protection test in accordance with the rules and at a tested quality level. ENERTRAG Betrieb also expects to be one of the top five first certified companies in France for lightning protection testing on rotor blades of wind turbines.
More information on drone inspection: https://enertrag.com/de/produkte-loesungen/inspektion-und-technische-betriebsfuehrung/drohneninspektion
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