The energy answer is blowing in the wind
"Let's go fly a kite up to the highest height."
And get wind of this: you can generate energy at the same time. It's true.
You may have seen wind turbines working their energy magic across the UK countryside – but how about kites doing the same thing? These commercial kites achieve 'high flight speeds', over 100mph in a 20mph wind, causing their tether to be rapidly spooled out from a drum connected to a generator.
And many of the 'big boy' energy companies believe this system has great potential: E.ON, Schlumberger and Shell Technology Ventures (STV) have ploughed £5 million into UK company, Kite Power Systems (KPS).
KPS’s kite power technology has the potential to transform the global offshore wind generation market as it is cheaper to manufacture and requires less construction and installation materials than conventional wind turbines.
A 500kW onshore system planned for Scotland next year
Proving that investing in Scottish wind energy is the way forward, this latest investment will support KPS’s plans to deploy a 500kW onshore power system at West Freugh next year (2017), leading to a planned onshore array of 500kW systems within the next three to four years. KPS will then develop a 3MW onshore system at West Freugh and then a similar sized power system in offshore waters.
Paul Jones, Chief Financial Officer of KPS said: “The new investment from three major international businesses is an endorsement of the R&D work. Backing from these companies will accelerate KPS’s commercial development plans towards deploying lower cost, deep-water offshore wind energy on a global scale.”
Hold on to your hats!