The Showcase

The new ground station of the 100 kW Kitepower system is currently being given the finishing touches at the developing project partner Dromec. On 23 June it will pass by TU Delft’s Aerospace Engineering Faculty for a final update and thereupon be deployed to the former naval airfield Valkenburg for extensive testing.

At the arrival of the ground station at TU Delft, a showcase event will take place in front of the faculty of Aerospace Engineering. This is a special opportunity to meet the Kitepower team together with the TU Delft research group and check out the current development status of the system.

The 100kW Kitepower System

The 100kW Kitepower system in development comprises a high performance kite connected by a load-transmitting tether to the electricity producing ground station. A robotic control unit suspended below wing allows to remotely control the aerodynamics and steering.

The spin-off Kitepower integrates the system together with three experienced industry partners who design, manufacture and deliver the component parts within the European REACH project. The new ground station will be operated with a wing developed in collaboration with Genetrix Kiteboarding and a kite control unit from Maxon Motor. The research group of TU Delft, which under Wubbo Ockels built a first prototype, now complements the commercial partners with its fundamental research.

Further pathbreaking projects are linked to the 100 kW Kitepower system. One prominent example is the future development of the testing airfield Valkenburg which is part of the unmanned valley project as a larger test center for unmanned innovation. Another example is the international doctoral training network AWESCO. It comprises 14 PhD students and in total 12 partners from industry and research including TU Delft as one of the leading institutes in the field of airborne wind energy.

Learn more about the EU H2020 Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) project REACH here.