and taller and it facilitates installation enormously,” explains Juan Ignacio Casado, an Assembly Manager at ACCIONA Energía, from a project site. “The skill of ACCIONA Energía’s professionals makes our work easier and we value the contributions of a global wind farm sec-tor leader as a company that is driving innovative products,” elabo-rates Iriarte. The partnership between the two companies—something that’s a frequent occurrence under ACCIONA’s open innovation policy—will foster BladeRunner’s development for a wider range of uses. “It’s designed for a specific type of hub and different tower heights, but we’re working with Nabrawind to adapt it to other types such as those we already have installed or those currently under construction,” says Casado. “We tested a similar system some years ago, but this one is safe, reliable in terms of usage, and more versatile. We believe costs can be cut substantially.” how it works DURING OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TOO According to Juan Ignacio Casado, the initial idea was to use BladeRunner to build wind farms, but after further testing they view it as necessary, “not to say essential, to use it for operation and maintenance maneuvers too, such as for changing blades, as this would allow significant cost reductions.” “We’re also assessing the possibility of using it on projects with wind turbines over 140 meters tall,” he adds.