Rugged Tablets help sustainable energy companies keep wind farms turning

The sight of wind turbines off the coast of many European countries is something we are becoming used to. With renewable energy production across Europe increasing in 2022, it now accounts for a fifth of all electricity generated across the continent. It’s a trend that also look set to continue with research commissioned by Panasonic TOUGHBOOK predicting that nearly 84% of energy generated in Europe will come from either solar, onshore wind, offshore wind or hydropower by 2050, compared to just below 50% in 2021. But one thing we rarely consider is how do energy companies maintain these renewable energy facilities when turbines for wind farms, for example, are in environments so difficult to operate in? 

Engineers, operating in the wind farms located off the coasts of the European mainland and UK, require a reliable device that can withstand the harsh environmental conditions and ensure uninterrupted service and maintenance of the towering wind turbines.

Historically, service and maintenance engineers used regular business laptops for their work. However, they quickly realised that these traditional devices were not built for the heavy knocks and vibrations of helicopter and boat transportation and work on the turbines or the extreme weather conditions regularly encountered at sea. 

With these devices working outside of their comfort zone for extended periods, the climate conditions soon caused serious issues. As well as the knocks and scrapes, the high levels of salt penetrating open slots and ports led to the accelerated decay of laptop parts.

With the devices not fit for purpose, energy companies needed another solution. That’s when some major industry player turned to us. Initially the organisations chose the Panasonic CF-20 TOUGHBOOKs, before more recently switching to the TOUGHBOOK G2 tablets. The TOUGHBOOK G2 is tested to the MIL-STD-810H standard and officially IP65-rated for water and dust resistance, ensuring that the ruggedness of the G2 more than matches the vigorous nature of the work undertaken.