RWE has granted Kitepower, a Dutch supplier of Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) solutions, an extension to continue using the Bangor Erris test site in County Mayo, Ireland, for scaling up Kitepower’s innovative airborne wind technology.
The announcement comes as the two companies celebrate the first anniversary of the facility. The test site was launched last year by RWE to see if airborne wind technology could complement RWE’s existing renewables portfolio of offshore and onshore wind, solar energy and battery storage.
Kitepower has had a very successful start in its testing programme, achieving over 90 flights and 100 hours of test time. With its vast space and excellent wind conditions, the RWE test site is perfect for scaling up Kitepower’s innovative technology.
The extention allows Kitepower to finalise testing for its Hawk Kite-BESS system and advance research on larger-scale airborne wind energy solutions. Kitepower has established a permanent crew on-site to ensure continuous research and development efforts.
Johannes Peschel, CEO of Kitepower, shared, “This extended collaboration not only strengthens the partnership between Kitepower and RWE but also opens the door to valuable insights into the large-scale offshore potential of airborne wind energy. Flights have increased to five per week on average, with total flight time surpassing 35 hours. Our test kite, the Falcon, now has a capacity of up to 100 kW, compared to the 30 kW capacity of our smaller Hawk system.”
Peter Lefroy, Head of Offshore Development, RWE Ireland & UK West, said, “We are pleased that RWE will continue to partner with Kitepower to further develop this new wind energy technology. RWE is exploring many different technical innovations to identify whether airborne wind technology could complement our existing renewables portfolio of offshore and onshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage.” Source: Kitepower
