The kites seeking the world's surest winds
BBCThe kites seeking the world's surest winds SkySails Group Massive kites could be a source of power in remote locations, and out in deep waters at sea To harvest wind energy from the heights where it blows fastest, the key may be to fly a kite. Launched in December 2021 by German company SkySails Power, the massive wing is the world's first fully autonomous commercial "airborne wind energy" system. The theoretical global limit of wind power at high altitude has been estimated to be about 4.5 times greater than what could be harvested at ground level But some experts say those massive turbines aren't always the best solution – they can be expensive or sometimes logistically impossible to install in remote locations or deep waters, and just can't reach the lofty heights where the wind blows hardest. SkySails Group Ground-tethered kites have the potential to reach higher than conventional turbines, to access strong, reliable winds Airborne systems have some key advantages, says Lorenzo Fagiano, an engineer at the Polytechnic University of Milan who is on the board of the industry association Airborne Wind Europe, which was founded in 2019.
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