High-altitude wind power reaches new milestone

As portion of the EU-funded REACH project, Dutch start-up Kitepower has successfully deployed its Airborne Wind Energy System (AWES) successful the Caribbean. This is simply a landmark accomplishment for the institution moving to bring its Falcon 100kW to market. It volition supply plentiful, inexpensive renewable vigor to distant communities and tiny powerfulness grids.

The AWES Falcon 100kW is simply a strategy consisting of a crushed station, tether, power portion and kite. Its intent is to instrumentality vantage of stronger winds astatine altitude to nutrient power. The kite generates kinetic energy arsenic it flies—being reeled successful and out—and the crushed presumption converts the kinetic energy into electricity. The solution is perfect for distant communities due to the fact that it is casual to install, portable and uses materials cost-effectively. The AWES is particularly effectual successful locations with changeless prevailing winds.

The milestone formation by the AWES took spot supra the Caribbean land of Aruba arsenic portion of the Caribbean Engineer 2021 subject exercise, successful adjacent collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Defense. The formation marks a critical point successful the system's improvement arsenic it is being brought person to commercialized release. The AWES demonstrated its feasibility successful an situation perfect for the system, owed to its easiness of shipping and deployment successful challenging terrain.

A caller precocious constituent for upwind power

This is the precise archetypal Kitepower cognition to beryllium conducted extracurricular of the European continent. In a institution property release, co-founder and CEO Johannes Peschel explained: "A imagination yet came true: A milestone that I person envisioned since the incorporation of Kitepower 5 years ago. We person yet shipped and flown a Kitepower strategy connected a Caribbean Island. It is rewarding to spot 1 of our kites flying adjacent to Henk's wind workplace (Vader Piet successful Aruba) and I judge it is genuinely singular to beryllium capable to witnesser what Kitepower has accomplished successful the people of the past years. I would similar to convey Henk, the section of Defense, each supporters and particularly the Kitepower squad for the blood, sweat and tears that person been enactment into the strategy and look guardant to galore much Kitepower operations successful Europe and overseas!"

Lieutenant Colonel Paul van der Heul added: "Kitepower is 1 of the absorbing possibilities of vigor supply. This offers opportunities, particularly successful distant and windy areas specified arsenic islands."

Kitepower's Falcon 100kW is simply a effect of years of probe and improvement undertaken during the REACH project. Its commercialized merchandise could importantly trim fossil substance dependence successful distant regions wherever accepted upwind farms are unfeasible owed to outgo oregon materials shipping. This could beryllium a large boost to upwind powerfulness globally arsenic the satellite transitions distant from fossil fuels. REACH (Resource Efficient Automatic Conversion of High-Altitude Wind) ended successful August 2019.

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