<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/wild-idea-could-zeppelins-really-be-used-to-air-ship-huge-wind-turbine-parts/>
"It’s an intriguing vision for the future of renewable energy. Giant white
blimps slipping silently through the air carrying containers of solar panels,
or, more likely, wind turbine blades which are expensive and devilishly tricky
to move by road.
One of the biggest logistical challenges for renewable energy projects – and
wind farms in particular – is the task of transporting heavy towers and turbine
planes from ports to the project sites.
And finding a solution to this is the aim of French company Flying Whales,
founded by entrepreneur Sébastien Bougon, who has already established bases in
France and Canada and is now looking at opportunities in Australia.
“We looked at the market in Australia and there was a fantastic surprise, how
much you are revamping your energy generation and energy network,” Bougon told
Renew Economy.
“What we do today is work with all players to look at their business cases. For
instance, wind farms in Tasmania, New South Wales, Queensland or in Western
Australia, and work with those companies to check out the technical
feasibility, to check out the financial feasibility, and to confirm that when
we [start operations in] 2028, everything is OK.”
Bougon is focused on metrics like the huge numbers of turbine blades needing to
be installed in Queensland alone – as many as 40,000 in the coming year. Mt Isa
in Queensland’s north-west has already been announced as one of the company’s
six operations sites, with a second site imminent.
Bougon also sees opportunity in new and replacement transmission infrastructure
along Australia’s strung out grid. A helicopter can carry 5 tonnes of weight,
or a fifth of a transmission tower.
Bougon says one of his airships could carry the whole thing – in a cargo hold
inside the “belly of the whale” or attached to the bottom if it’s more than
100m long – to a remote site fully assembled, and do it more cheaply."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
