Design a wind turbine that flies automatically like a kite

Kitekraft's kite-shaped wind turbine design helps to reduce construction costs, making it easy to apply in places where it is difficult to transport large propellers.

Kitekraft tests a floating wind turbine.

Startup Kitekraft is developing a flying wind turbine that saves 10 times more materials than conventional wind turbines. The company announced a recent successful flight test, marking an important milestone towards producing the first 100 kW of electricity.

Kitekraft explains that reducing the need for materials for flying turbines, which use connecting wires instead of large poles, can reduce energy costs by almost half compared to traditional wind farms of the same size. The design's carbon footprint is also lower than many standard wind turbines, in part because large wind turbines are often transported by road.

To achieve this goal, Kitekraft developed an automatic kite that produces power through eight small rotors. The energy produced by the kite travels through wires to a ground station connected to the power grid. Kitekraft engineers say their prototype produces the same amount of power as the tip of a large wind turbine blade, the fastest-moving part of the blade.

According to Florian Bauer, co-CEO of Kitekraft, the technology can be adapted for offshore use because it does not need a foundation like conventional wind turbines installed on the seabed. If the wind is too strong, the kite can fly lower to avoid damage to the machinery.

After an autonomous flight test last month, Max Isensee, co-founder of Kitekfraft, said they are continuing to work on the final design. Engineers have tested the operation of several new systems including wings, arrows indicating the direction of the wind, flight control computers through the tests. Kitefraft intends to deploy the machine on small grids of 20 - 10 kW on remote islands where it is not feasible to transport large wind farm infrastructure.