2026 First China UAV?based Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Field Test & Innovative O&M Scenario Demonstration Activity
Held on August?13?14, the 2026 First China UAV?based Wind Turbine Blade Inspection Field Test & Innovative O&M Scenario Demonstration Activity was successfully hosted by China General Certification (CGC) and DJI?Innovation, and undertaken by CGN (Hubei) New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. at the CGN (Hubei) New Energy Technical Service Center in Dawu County, Hubei Province. Authoritative experts from major power?generation enterprises and representatives of O&M solution providers gathered at the site. Leveraging an operational wind farm, they carried out on?site UAV blade?inspection tests and demonstrations of multiple innovative O&M scenarios to jointly discuss high?quality development pathways for intelligent wind?power operation and maintenance.
Concurrent with the event, CGC and CGN jointly unveiled the plaque for the New?Energy Intelligent O&M Equipment Simulation & Verification Base, marking the entry of their strategic cooperation on verification and evaluation of new?energy intelligent O&M equipment into formal operational implementation.
Industry Background: Addressing Common Wind?power O&M Pain Points via Field Testing
China’s wind?power industry has entered a new phase of intelligent operation and maintenance. New technologies such as UAV?based blade inspection, UAV lightning?protection conduction testing and robotic flaw detection are being rapidly deployed. Nevertheless, the industry has long suffered from common pain points: inconsistent evaluation criteria, lack of field?test evidence for equipment selection, and difficulties in quantitative comparison among O&M solutions. There is an urgent need for implemented standards and authoritative third?party evaluation services.
With long?standing expertise in the new?energy sector, CGC has accumulated profound experience in standard development, testing & certification and technical evaluation. This event is a major initiative by CGC to respond to concerns from power?generation enterprises by addressing industry?wide bottlenecks. It aims to build an objective, impartial and quantifiable empirical platform for intelligent O&M technologies. Guided by field?test practices, CGC will advance standard development and the roll?out of third?party evaluation products.
Plaque?unveiling Ceremony: Co?building a Verification Platform to Drive Standard Development
On the morning of August?13, the plaque?unveiling ceremony for the jointly?built New?Energy Intelligent O&M Equipment Simulation & Verification Base took place at the CGN Dawu Technical Service Center. Representatives from power?generation enterprises and O&M solution providers attended and witnessed this industry milestone.
The Base serves as the tangible delivery vehicle for the two parties’ strategic cooperation. Drawing on its third?party strengths in standard?setting, testing?certification and technical assessment, CGC leads the development of the Base’s evaluation system; CGN provides real?world operational wind?farm and PV?station resources. Together, they have formed a closed?loop framework covering standard development?–?field?test verification?–?rating assessment?–?achievement transformation, filling the gap for an authoritative third?party verification platform in the new?energy intelligent O&M domain.
During the ceremony, CGC noted that the event was conducted on a live wind?farm site under unified conditions and unified rules to deliver objective evaluations supported by measured data. Going forward, the Base will host regular field?tests and verification activities for diverse intelligent O&M equipment, identify high?efficiency and cost?effective O&M solutions, help new?energy stations reduce costs and boost efficiency, and foster an open and shared industrial ecosystem for intelligent operation and maintenance.
Blade?inspection Field Test: Seven?dimensional Quantitative Evaluation to Identify Optimal Industry Solutions
As the core segment of the event, CGC led the compilation of the Field?test Scoring Rules for UAV?based Wind Turbine Blade Inspection following multiple rounds of expert workshops. The Rules have gained recognition from power?generation enterprises and O&M solution providers including SPIC, Longyuan Power, Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, Three Gorges Energy, Envision Digital, CGN, DJI?Innovation, Zhongke Lifeng, Robovision, and ZXHC. Building on this document, CGC further produced a Referee Manual, which stipulates assessment workflows, scoring thresholds, blind?review protocols and dispute?arbitration mechanisms to ensure well?regulated field tests and consistent judging criteria.
For the field test, three operational wind turbines with different lock?blade attitudes at CGN Jiangjiashan Wind Farm were selected as inspection targets. The turbines feature 53.8?m?long blades and an 80?m tower height. On?site test conditions were overcast weather with wind speeds ranging from 10?m/s to 16?m/s.
Eight organizations took part in the full field?test campaign: Zhitianxia, Robovision, Nantong Huoyan, Zhongke Lifeng, ZXHC, Zhongke Fangcun, Roark Intelligence and Shanghai Peiqi. CGC assembled a judging panel of senior experts from major power?generation enterprises. Participating teams were assessed comprehensively across seven dimensions: operational efficiency, automation level, operational safety, scenario adaptability, cost?effectiveness, defect?recognition capability, and report?generation capacity. Assessment results were visualized via a seven?dimensional capability radar chart.
Test results show that participants generally delivered solid performance in operational safety, scenario adaptability and report?generation capacity. By contrast, operational efficiency, cost?effectiveness and defect?recognition capability represent key areas for improvement for most vendors. The radar charts enable intuitive quantitative comparison of performance gaps among different solutions, delivering objective visual references for power?generation enterprises’ equipment procurement. Meanwhile, the field test generated valuable primary?source data for the Base to refine evaluation metrics, iterate assessment methodologies and advance industry standard?setting.
Scenario Demonstrations: Highlighting Cutting?edge Technologies to Resolve Industry Pain Points
The innovative O&M scenario demonstrations constituted another highlight. Jointly selected by CGC, DJI?Innovation, CGN and participating power?generation enterprises, demonstration scenarios target real?world operational bottlenecks and technical gaps for asset owners, including non?stop emergency inspection, blade lightning?receptor conduction testing, and tower flaw detection. Enterprises including Robovision, Nantong Huoyan, Zhongke Lifeng, Huixi Technology and Zhitianxia deployed new intelligent equipment for live on?site demonstrations, vividly illustrating the strengths of intelligent O&M technologies: shortening operation durations, mitigating high?altitude work risks and improving defect?detection accuracy.
On?site, experts from power?generation enterprises and demonstration vendors held in?depth exchanges covering technical feasibility, scenario compatibility and economic rationality. CGC will drive related standard development and certification?service development for demonstrated projects, furnishing robust decision?making support for asset owners selecting and procuring new technologies and products.
Technical Exchange: Consolidating Industry Consensus to Chart Development Pathways
Concurrent with the main event, CGC organized multiple special technical?exchange sessions. Front?line industry experts held in?depth discussions on hot topics such as UAV?inspection algorithms, intelligent defect recognition, lightning?protection conduction testing and intelligent tower flaw detection, sharing cutting?edge research outcomes and engineering experience.
In closed?door workshops, participants exchanged full views on prominent industry challenges including low?balling bidding and the absence of unified evaluation standards. CGC will systematically synthesize these exchange outcomes as key inputs for drafting the White Paper on UAV?based Wind?power Inspection and revising the evaluation?indicator system, translating industry consensus into standardized deliverables.
Embarking on a New Journey: Empowering Industry Upgrade via Verification Practices
This event represents a practical large?scale exercise for intelligent wind?power O&M equipment. Building on the inauguration of the Verification Base and the inaugural field?test activity, CGC will deepen its strategic partnership with CGN. Relying on this platform, regular field?test verification and technical?exchange activities will be held to help outstanding O&M solutions gain wider recognition. To address pain points such as low?balling competition and insufficient unified evaluation criteria for UAV wind?turbine inspection, CGC will co?develop the White Paper on UAV?based Wind?power Inspection together with power?generation enterprises and O&M solution suppliers. It will also launch the UAV?based Wind?turbine Blade?inspection Application Performance Evaluation & Rating Service. Standardized assessments will drive service?quality improvement and steer the industry away from price?only competition toward quality?driven competition.
Looking ahead, the Verification Base will keep expanding multi?scenario testing capabilities for wind?power and photovoltaic sectors, iterating and perfecting a full?category quantitative evaluation system for intelligent O&M equipment. Through field?test verification, it will foster technological innovation in operation and maintenance, injecting robust momentum into the safe, efficient and high?quality growth of China’s new?energy industry.