Air Control Energy in drone inspection on North Sea FPSO

Aberdeen-based drone company Air Control Energy (Ace) has carried out a live inspection of a North Sea installation.

The company used a drone to stream live footage from an FPSO back to the client’s offices in Aberdeen.

Using a drone meant the operator did not have to shut down the facility or rely on rope access teams to inspect the flare.

Ace became one of the first companies to receive support from the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) for its products earlier this year.

The OGTC said in June that using drones could cut the cost of maintenance inspections in half.

Ace managing director Kieran Hope said: “Any type of live stream from an offshore installation was going to prove challenging due to communications and the historic difficulties of achieving a high definition live stream back to onshore from a type of installation that struggles with fixed communications. Our success therefore is a huge accomplishment and step forward in the industry.

“We have had an incredible amount of interest in the live stream since starting to develop the capability and we look forward to performing further field trials and assisting the Oil and Gas market with their live stream inspection needs.”

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