New hydrogen drone from Doosan Mobility Innovation to help accelerate North Sea energy transition
Doosan Mobility International (DMI) launched its 2nd generation hydrogen drone DS30W for the European market on Friday, October 29, 2021 during a meeting of the Maritime Emerging & Enabling Technologies Innovation Park (METIP) in Den Helder, the Netherlands. The hydrogen drone was demonstrated by DroneQ Robotics, after which a cooperation agreement was signed with the aim of jointly investigating applications in the maritime and offshore industry, to support the North Sea energy transition.
Sustainable unmanned aviation
Drones powered by a fuel cell have the potential to revolutionize sustainable unmanned aviation. Their longer flight time compared to battery-based systems brings a whole range of new applications within reach, such as inspecting pipelines over long distances or transporting urgent goods to offshore installations at sea.
The Korean company Doosan Mobility International is on the forefront of the development of hydrogen drones. In 2020, DMI announced its first hydrogen drone: the DS30. This system offered a long flight time of more than two hours. The DS30W is the successor to this system and offers a better wind resistance.
Cooperation
After the first official European flight of the new hydrogen drone DS30W, DMI announced that it has joined METIP and has signed a covenant with METIP and DroneQ Robotics. The intention is to jointly investigate applications for hydrogen drones, by testing, demonstrating and validating use cases and pilots in the maritime and offshore industry in the North Sea. This involves exploring the possibilities offered by new European regulations for the deployment of unmanned and autonomous systems.
DMI is making its new generation of hydrogen drones available for testing and demonstration flights. METIP facilitates the use cases and pilot projects. DroneQ Robotics provides technical (flight) assistance as the preferred operator.
“The second generation hydrogen drone from Doosan Mobility International has a flight time of two hours and is resistant to adverse weather conditions, making it ideal for complex maritime applications such as inspecting offshore installations or performing search and rescue missions”, says John Troch, co-founder of DroneQ.
Accelerating the energy transition
The North Sea plays a key role in the energy transition. The large-scale development of offshore wind farms and other renewable energy sources, the existing offshore oil & gas extraction, the production of hydrogen and the underground storage of CO2 requires an integrated approach and integration of the various systems for energy production. Offshore logistics in particular play an important role in the safe and efficient operation of the offshore energy system. Hydrogen drones can play a major role in this.
“Innovative, safe, sustainable and efficient solutions using emerging & enabling technologies make a relevant contribution to a successful energy transition in the North Sea and its acceleration”, says John Spee (project manager METIP).
About Doosan Mobility Innovation
Doosan Mobility Innovation creates the world’s first commercialized hydrogen fuel cell system for drones, which have 2-hours of flight time four times than battery drones. With long endurance, DMI’s hydrogen drones are utilized in various industrial fields including utility inspection, delivery, environmental monitoring, and public safety. Based on this green technology, DMI successfully launched its products in the USA, China and Korea in 2019 and will expand its business globally.
About METIP
The Maritime Emerging Technology Innovation Park (METIP) has been made possible by the Regional Deal Maritime Cluster Kop van Noord-Holland. With this Regional Deal, the government, the province of North Holland, the municipality of Den Helder, De Kop Werkt! and other (public and private) partners are working on an integrated approach to strengthen the living, housing and working climate in the Kop van Noord-Holland.
About DroneQ Robotics
DroneQ Robotics is a next-generation Unmanned Vehicle System Operator & Integrator, where operational processes and autonomy are important factors for operations in the air, on land, on water and underwater. Areas of activity include Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones), Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs).
