About the company
Kitepower is a leading start-up in Airborne Wind Energy (AWE), developing innovative and cost-effective alternatives to existing wind turbines. Kitepower’s patented technology is a game-changer in the wind energy sector: Kitepower uses up to 90% less material with the potential of being twice as efficient than conventional wind turbines with the same power output. Unlike conventional wind turbines, Kitepower systems do not require resource-intensive towers nor heavy foundations and are thus highly mobile and easy to deploy. The system is able to harness stronger and more persistent winds at higher altitudes, allowing for capacity factors greater than 0.5 and cost-effective electricity generation in return. Kitepower’s leading product, the Kitepower Falcon, is specially designed to allow remote communities worldwide to mitigate dependency on polluting and expensive diesel supply.
The origin of Kitepower
Kitepower is a registered trademark of Enevate BV. Kitepower was founded by Johannes Peschel and Roland Schmehl in January 2016 as a result of the work done by TU Delft’s pioneering kite power research group of the former astronaut Wubbo Ockels. Research in kite power generation was initiated by Wubbo Ockels in 1993, followed by a patent application for the Laddermill technology in 1997. Already in 2007, the first 20kW Kitepower system demonstrated the proof of concept. Currently, Kitepower is developing one of the first containerised on-shore AWES to enter the market.