Højt over Danmarks kraftværker holder autonome droner udstyret med avanceret AI konstant øje. De inspicerer lagre af biomasse, detekterer potentielle brande og overvåger det omkringliggende område.
Denne vision er ved at blive til virkelighed med PERSIST (Persistent Drone Operations at Critical Infrastructure) – et forskningsprojekt ledet af Syddansk Universitet, Aalborg Universitet, drone- og AI-virksomheden Robotto samt energileverandørerne HOFOR og Ørsted.
Projektet viser, hvordan banebrydende AI-forskning kan omdannes til praktiske løsninger, der beskytter mennesker, miljøet og kritisk infrastruktur – samtidig med at driftsomkostninger reduceres, sikkerheden øges og en grønnere, mere modstandsdygtig energiforsyning styrkes.
PERSIST afspejler også DIREC’s mission om at bygge bro mellem forskning, industri og samfund. Her omsættes avanceret teknologi til skalerbare løsninger, der gør en reel forskel – præcis hvor samfundet har mest brug for det.
 |
Anders Lyhne Christensen – Professor – University of Southern Denmark
|
 |
Timothy Robert Merritt – Associate Professor – Aalborg University
|
 |
Jens Kai Holm – Chief Specialist – Ørsted Bioenergy and Thermal Power A/S
|
 |
Kenneth Geipel – CEO – Robotto Co ApS
|
 |
Martin Skjold Lind Grøntved – Senior PM – HOFOR A/S
|
HOFOR sees persistent aerial monitoring as a natural extension of our strategy to leverage digital technologies for improving plant efficiency and operational resilience, in line with the EU directive on Critical Infrastructure Resilience. Participating in the PERSIST project directly supports our strategic goal of becoming a smarter, more sustainable utility operator.
Martin Skjold Lind Grøntved
Senior Project Manager
HOFOR
Robotto builds edge-AI drone systems for time-critical missions—search-and-rescue, wildlife protection, and security. PERSIST gives us a unique opportunity to push that technology from single flights to a fully autonomous, multi-drone service that can patrol biomass power plants around the clock. Working side-by-side with HOFOR, Ørsted, and academic experts allows us to refine on-board threat detection, object recognition, and automated task execution under real industrial constraints.
Kenneth Geipel
Chief Commercial Officer
Robotto Co ApS
Persistent aerial monitoring aligns with Ørsted’s strategy of utilizing .digital technologies to improve plant efficiency, upholding our commitment to cybersecurity (e.g. N1S2), and positions the power plant to respond to threats to operational continuity as required by the EU directive on Critical lnfrastructure Resilience. Participating in PERSIST therefore accelerates our transition to a smarter, greener utility company and the lessons learned in this project can inform similar installations at our other sites.
Jens Kai Holm
Chief Specialist
Ørsted Bioenergy and Thermal Power A/S
