Kitepower: EUR 3 million investment

Kitepower: EUR 3 million investment

Kitepower, a TU Delft start-up, received a EUR 3 million investment last week from South Holland’s energy investment fund ENERGIIQ, Stichting ifund and Windhandel Beheer (EUR 1 million each). Kitepower has been working on the technology to generate wind energy with large (60 m2) steerable kites on a winch since 2016. Hoisting the line generates energy, while reeling it in stops the generation. Kitepower now has two 100 kW Falcon systems running at a test site in Goeree (Zeeland). Kitepower Director, Johannes Peschel said, “This investment boosts our ability to further develop our system and our organisation enormously.”

 

The investment is aimed at having the first Kitepower Falcon produce energy commercially at a customer’s premises next year. Before that, further testing and development is needed to make the system capable of producing independently. Who the first customer will be is still up in the air, says Technical Manager Joep Breuer. “But we are in talks with several parties.”

 

Remote locations

Breuer sees opportunities mostly lying in remote locations where power is currently produced with diesel generators. Kite electricity is more expensive than the EUR 0.04 per kWh that is currently the norm for wind energy in the Netherlands. In remote places, the price of electricity is higher, which offers scope for a Kitepower system. “In the Middle East or Alaska, the price of electricity is sometimes EUR 0.30 per kWh or more. These areas are our initial market,” says Breuer. He expects that further development will make kite power cheaper.

 

Co-founder and TU Delft researcher Dr Roland Schmehl (Faculty of Aerospace Engineering) explains that one of the systems will be moved from Goeree to Aruba for testing in the autumn, where it will produce power with as little intervention as possible. The constellation is reminiscent of that of German competitor Skysails, which is working with RWE to generate power on Mauritius. (JW)