Kitepower presents kites for generating wind energy

The Dutch company Kitepower has presented a wind kite that can generate energy from wind power. The system is primarily intended to charge batteries.

As part of the energy transition, more and more countries are relying on wind, hydropower and solar energy. But wind turbines are not the only way to generate energy from the wind. Other concepts also enable the conversion of wind into electricity – for example kites.

The Kitepower company is also building on this. With a concept called “The Hawk” (in German: “The Falcon”), those interested can now generate energy using a wind kite. The system consists of various components. In addition to the actual kite, there is also an energy storage device in the form of several batteries.

Kite power: Wind kites generate energy through jerky movements

The construction is transported in a shipping container. The batteries enable an output of up to 330 kilowatts at peak times. The running time is limited to around ten hours per charge. A line connects the kite to a coil system that controls the kite's flight path. And it works like this:

The kite rises into the sky and rolls the line from the spool system along the way. The system generates energy through jerky movements and stores it in the connected battery storage. Then the coil pulls the kite straight and controlled back towards the ground. This requires less energy than was previously generated to generate the movements.

Up to 30 kilowatts of power possible per cycle

The kite spends around 80 percent of the time in the air before it is retrieved again via the spool. This produces an output of around 40 kilowatts. The system requires around ten kilowatts of this to bring the kite back to the ground in a controlled manner. “The Hawk” produces 30 kilowatts of available net power per cycle.

The system works optimally at wind speeds between 32 and 48 kilometers per hour. If the wind blows stronger, efficiency also suffers. Kitepower sees use in areas where the expansion of solar panels or wind turbines has stalled or is not possible for a variety of reasons.

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