Buss Energy Acquires Stake in Drone Inspection Firm

Germany based Buss Energy Group has acquired a 24.9 percent stake in Austrian drone specialist Aero Enterprise which provides drones for offshore wind turbine inspections.

The Aero Enterprise drones are based on helicopter technology and thus can be used even at high wind speeds, and are, according to the developer which is particularly relevant at high sea. 

“The inspection by drone was the next logical step for us to complete our portfolio,” explains Managing Director Martin Schulz. “We can offer our customers a highly professional analysis of their wind turbines. The technology creates predictability regarding necessary value retention measures to increase plant productivity. From our point of view, drones are the most efficient and leading technology for the exact documentation and evaluation of an inspection." 

The Buss Energy Group had already expanded its portfolio last year by purchasing two companies. In addition to port logistics for the construction of offshore wind farms, the service group also offers the installation and service of wind turbines and rotor blades both on land and at sea in Germany and Europe since 2019. 

Commenting on Buss acquiring a stake in his company, Robert Hörmann, CEO of Aero Enterprise highlights that “the Buss Energy Group is the perfect strategic partner for us. Buss Energy's professional sales structures and many years of operational experience in the wind sector will help to further establish our technology on the market".

According to Aero Enterprise, its drones offer long flight times which is especially advantageous in offshore use.

"Thus, even with increasing sizes of the wind turbines, no additional stop landing is needed. Furthermore, the drone inspection flight is fully autonomous and continuously monitored. The high-resolution image data is evaluated by using the in-house developed AERO-Software Package. Damage detection and classification is largely automated with the support of Artificial Intelligence (AI)," the owners say.

The subsequent automation of data transfer to the customer's software environment and the automatically generated reports enable efficient and objective reporting on the condition of the wind turbines and potential repairs needed.

In addition, Aero Enterprise says its drones can provide exact comparative data from previous inspections, and are suitable for all types of inspections on wind turbines: for example, for determining the need for repairs, for handovers as part of the commissioning of new systems, for warranty inspections and recurring inspections.