Kite Power Solutions (KPS) has launched a round of financing to raise £10 million ($15.5 million). The British clean energy company plans to use the funds to support commercial development of its kite power technology.
The technology promises to be a cheaper alternative to existing wind turbines which use tonnes of steel. KPS claims the technology offers benefits in manufacture, deployment and maintenance stages.
The kite and cable system of KPS reduces the amount of steel required by over 75 percent, the company claims.
And it deploys an anchor system that is routinely used in the offshore oil industry to install floating production storage and offloading vessels and other large ships.
The features allow the KPS system to be deployed farther offshore. KPS plans to deploy its first 3MW offshore power system by 2019.
According to Bill Hampton, the founder and CEO of KPS, the technology will be able to produce electricity at prices comparable with offshore wind projects even without government subsidies.
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The technology is expected to reduce capital expenditure on implementing offshore projects by as much as 50 percent.
At present, offshore wind installations are priced about £140 per megawatt hour and it is expected to fall to £78 per megawatt hour by 2020. When the KPS system is rolled out around 2020, the cost of production is expected to be reduced to about £50 per megawatt hour.
The KPS power system flies two kites strung to a fibre tether that is between 500m and 750m long. The tether is attached to a winch system which helps generate electricity as it spools out.
At flight speeds of up to 100mph in 20mph winds the tension generated on the tether helps it spool out rapidly from a drum connected to an electricity generator.
“Conventional wind energy technology can’t go much further: Turbines are getting larger and conversion efficiencies are the highest they’ve ever been … Both the industry and government need a step change in technology if the targets for renewables are to be met. Kite power generation offers a solution,” Hampton, the CEO of KPS, says.
Ajith Kumar S