Airborne Wind Energy

See the EK30 in operation on our test site in Brandenburg.

Affordable and clean energy supply worldwide

Harnessing high-altitude winds: Doubling the output whilst saving 95% of resources per unit energy yielded.

A secure energy supply is representative of wealth in a developed world. Knowing that only renewable energy will secure the well-being of our planet, we at EnerKite are developing more efficient wind energy systems for the needs of the future.

Today's wind turbines supply their nominal output less than a quarter of the time and continue to uphold the price of environmentally friendly energy. At inland sites the gondolas are lifted on expensive, ever-growing towers in order to reach the more persistent high-altitude winds. Offshore systems on the other hand cannot convince due to high grid connection and foundation costs.

When it comes to harnessing the steady and strong winds above the hub heights of conventional wind turbines, onshore as well as offshore, kite wings display unique potential. Cutting-edge control technology and efficient wing design allow for savings on the foundation, tower and blades. One day wind energy from EnerKites could become more economical than the fossil fuel alternative.

How does it work?

EnerKites are novel wind energy plants aiming to produce energy up to 90% of the time, aggregating more than 4000 full-load hours per year. This is made possible by harnessing the persistently strong winds at heights of 100 - 500 m. The system becomes highly economical through extremely efficient material usage, optimal use of airspace as well as low assembly and transport costs. EnerKite leads the field of dynamic airborne wind energy controls and efficient kite wings having already demonstrated this in the field.
EnerKites work in two phases according to the so-called reverse Yo-Yo concept. During the power phase the wing flies cross-wind, unfurling the lines with optimal force and speed. During the recovery phase the wing returns to the starting point as fast and smooth as possible with minimal energy expenditure. The ground station generates electrical power from the torque of the unfurling lines whilst steering the wing using differential drum drives.

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EnerKíte system compared to wind turbines. The force increases with the altitude.

The path leading towards the development of a megawatt-class EnerKite is comprised of several intermediate steps that are economically interesting in their own right. The 100 - 500 kW plants for mobile or stationary off-grid power supply represent a solution in rural areas or those that are difficult to reach. Especially in the MW class EnerKítes reveal their future potential.

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Awesome! EnerKíte awarded with € 2.3 Mio EU grant

EnerKite and our proposal „AWESOME“ is one of the winners of H2020 SME instrument call. The Grant agreement with the EU Commission was signed a few days ago. Awesome stands for: "Airborne Wind Energy and Storage system for Off-grid and Mobile Electricity“

With a funding rate of 70%, EnerKíte will receive a € 2.3 Mio grant for our innovation and product development. This will allow to boost our performance from early 2019 on during the next years and to secure new ressources for a long-lasting success.

EnerKíte’s score was 14.62 out of 15. The Jury members - recruited out of VCs and Experts - wrote in their evaluation:

The team has the motivation and technical capacity. Raising private funding has also been demonstrated as well as the ability to integrate senior executives into the team.

The commercialization strategy is sound, with proven early pilots financed by the customers. The financial projections and planning are realistic.

Due to the high demand of the off-grid market, the time is right for this innovation. The application of the technology will be disruptive and create a new market category.

Left: Claus and Alexander after pitching EnerKite in Brussels --- Right: Our team in full excitement after reception of the EU letter.

Deutsche Welle features EnerKíte.

We think its well done!

The Feature of #DW Deutschen Welle gives space for the actors: The #EnerKite team and our supporters and allies.

Developing, prototyping and testing towards the proof of concept comes along with our customer dialogues and winning investors.

Thanks to the filming team of #DW for your persistence and the joint shifts day and night in the test field.

EU Commission awards: "Seal of Excellence"

At the start of this year, EnerKíte submitted a proposal for Small and Medium Enterprises under the H2020 SME instrument phase 2 framework. With a budget of 3.2 EURm, the project outlined the path to bringing our first product EK200 close to market. Work packages focused on technology maturation, pilot projects, market preparation and commercialisation. Year by year, the EU Commission has been progressively increasing the criteria – from 12, now 13 out of 15 points are required to be preselected out of thousands of applications. EnerKíte and its project AWESOME was one of the few companies to hit these thresholds. Unfortunately, 13,1 points - our highest score so far - was not good enough to be amongst one of around a dozen winners. The "Seal of Excellence" that was award to EnerKíte and the proposal, is however a win and success on its own - paving the path to local funding. The valuation of the international jury of experts was: "This proposal was scored as a high-quality project proposal in a highly competitive evaluation process." The federal state government recently issued a new funding scheme which offers even more attractive funding rates than the EU. We are drafting the winning proposal now. We are prepared.