We are convinced that Airborne Wind is transforming from a niche curiosity into a structured industry. Key technical challenges are being solved one after the other and the industry needs specialized suppliers to reap the benefits of scale economies and faster development cycles. The evaluation committee asked very thoughtful questions and their feedback is helping us grow. We hope to have convinced them that airborne wind is no longer a children's game but a realistic game changer. (Abridged version of a presentation given at STW/RVO in Utrech on 19 May 2017, Aenarete/Tu-Delft)

1. (abridged
version)
Gael
de
Oliveira
19
May
2017
Uwe
Fechner
Smart
Components
for
Airborne
Wind
Energy

2. What
is
Airborne
Wind
Energy
?

3. Harness
wind
energy
with
light
structures
Go
higher,
tap
into
predictable
winds

4. What
is
the
market
for
Airborne
Wind
Energy
?

5. Mid-­‐scale
(10-­‐100kW)
Farmers,
Resorts,
Mining
Opera@ons
(grid-­‐connected,
off-­‐grid,
temporary,
kill
diesel
genset)
Large-­‐scale
(100kW
to
MW)
Mountainous
Areas
(easy
commissioning,
Swiss
10%
in
Wind
2030,
Japan)
Large-­‐scale
(100kW
to
MW)
Offshore,
Deep
sea
(simpler
foundaDon,
beEer
capacity
factor)

6. Airborne
Wind
is
an
emerging
industry

7. Investors Public
Bodies
Manufacturers
Research

8. Suppliers
Branch OrganizaNons
Manufacturers
Research

9. Key
Challenges
of
the
Airborne
Wind
Industry

10. UnaQended
automated
control
Long
periods
of
opera@on
Increase
Robustness
of
Wing
Designs
Improve
performance
Deal
with
soiling
Automated
Launch
and
Landing
Land
safely
during
storms

11. Our
SoluNons

12. ReverNble
Propeller
Provide
thrust
during
launch
and
landing,
power
control
system
during
normal
opera@on.
Groundstation
Enable
control
of
tethered
wing,
convert
mechanical
power
into
electricity
Ariane
RF
Link
Fast,
reliable
wireless
link
between
wing
and
groundsta@on
Athena
Kite
Control
Box
Flight
control
computer
with
advanced
sensors,
sensor
fusion,
fast
logging
and
a
simple
user
interface

13. Thank
you!
“Airborne
Wind
is
a
poten0al
game
changer,
with
poten0al
to
reduce
the
cost
of
energy
by
up
to
half
while
at
the
same
0me
opening
up
new
markets.”
IRENA,
Bonn
"Tradi0onal
wind
power
is
less
efficient
because
it
requires
a
lot
of
steel
infrastructure,
of
which
only
the
0p
of
the
blade
is
really
harnessing
energy.”
Geert
van
de
Vouw,
Shell
Tech
Ventures
“E.ON
has
been
looking
into
Airborne
Wind
technologies
for
five
years
and
we
believe
it
has
true
game
changing
poten0al.”
Frank
Meyer,
E.ON
“new
ultra-­‐low
cost
wind
power
technologies
will
be
required
to
drive
more
rapid
cost
reduc0ons
below
current
levels
and
to
unlock
the
vast
wind
resources
that
exist
at
higher
al0tudes"
Breakthrough
Energy
Fund
(Bill
Gates)
“We
strongly
believe
in
Kitemill’s
technologies
and
their
ability
to
commercialize
this
in
the
future.”
Kjell
Jostein
Bø,
Voss
Sparebank