Kitepower is excited to announce a new partnership with the University of Freiburg’s Systems Control and Optimisation Laboratory, led by Prof. Moritz Diehl. This collaboration aims to improve digital modeling techniques for Kitepower’s innovative kite-based wind energy systems and will form the foundation of two new industrial master’s theses focused on digital modeling and advanced flight control techniques.

Airborne Wind Energy is a groundbreaking approach to renewable energy that uses tethered kites to capture wind power at higher altitudes, where winds are stronger and more consistent than those reachable by traditional wind turbines. Kitepower, based in Delft, Netherlands, has been at the forefront of this technology with its advanced leading edge inflatable kite system.

The partnership with the University of Freiburg will address one of the critical challenges in making Kitepower’s systems fully autonomous: improving the control of the kite’s flight path through all stages of operation. The collaboration will be structured around two distinct projects, each contributing to key areas of development.

Digital twin

The first project will focus on developing a digital twin—a sophisticated simulation model of the kite power system. This model will accurately replicate the design and operation of Kitepower’s soft-wing kites and will be validated using real-world flight test data. Once validated, the digital twin will serve as a critical tool for solving trajectory optimisation problems, improving flight path planning, and refining overall control strategies. The result will be greater system efficiency and reliability.

Flexible flight path

The second project will aim to improve Kitepower’s flight path planning by reducing its reliance on heuristic methods. By exploring advanced computational techniques, this project seeks to make the flight path planning process more flexible and adaptable to varying wind conditions. This will significantly enhance system performance, enabling Kitepower’s technology to respond dynamically to changing environmental factors.

Kitepower is eager to see the outcomes of both projects, confident that the advancements will deliver significant value.