The selection of Kitepower in the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator bootcamp presented a promising opportunity to demonstrate the potential of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems in providing sustainable and reliable electricity to support humanitarian operations in remote and disaster-prone locations. Kitepower aims to further collaborate with WFP in future to demonstrate the potential of AWE in tackling some of the world’s most urgent issues, including the global food crisis and climate emergency.
By participating in the WFP Innovation Accelerator’s February bootcamp, Kitepower had the opportunity to leverage the resources and support of the Accelerator and its team to further develop its technology and expand its network. This intensive bootcamp provided Kitepower with valuable training, helped refine their pitch and developed a strong project plan that aligns with the goals and objectives of WFP. As part of the bootcamp activities, Kitepower also had the opportunity to present the innovative AWE solution to potential funders and partners, government officials, industry leaders and WFP staff at the WFP Innovation Accelerator Pitch Event.
The UN WFP Innovation Accelerator
The WFP Innovation Accelerator focuses on identifying, supporting and scaling innovations that have the potential to transform the food and humanitarian sectors. It has a strong commitment to working with innovators and entrepreneurs who are developing scalable solutions that can help communities become self-reliant, resilient, and sustainable. The Accelerator has already supported the development of numerous successful innovations that have helped to address hunger and humanitarian challenges around the world.
The WFP Innovation Accelerator is structured to provide innovators with the necessary resources and support to turn their ideas into tangible solutions that can have a real impact on global hunger and humanitarian challenges. It provides mentorship from industry experts, and access to the world’s largest humanitarian organization. Successful innovation teams also have the opportunity to receive up to US $100,000 in equity-free funding.
By supporting innovation, the WFP Innovation Accelerator is helping to accelerate progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2, which seeks to end hunger, achieve food security, and improve nutrition.
How Kitepower Could Support WFP and SDG2 in the Short Term
Kitepower offers a versatile solution that not only addresses the climate crisis but also provides mobile electricity units for disaster relief, remote camps, and off-grid communities. Based on the work undertaken at the recent WFP Innovation Accelerator bootcamp, the Kitepower system was seen to be especially valuable to WFP in two ways:
Firstly, WFP has numerous logistical tasks that require electricity, including storing, transporting, and distributing food all over the world, with the help of approximately 80 country offices. Here, Kitepower could provide reliable electricity to off-grid logistic points and country offices, reducing reliance on diesel generators. Within 2 days of optimal operation, a Kitepower system would already be capable of generating sufficient renewable power to support 30,000 displaced individuals in a refugee camp.
Secondly, in first responder situations, the Kitepower system can meet the requirement of being available within 72 hours. With Kitepower systems at every WFP country office and first responder location, rapid deployment can be achieved globally. The need for electricity is not limited to the WFP’s first responder operations. Electricity is essential for food preparation, replacing charcoal, and providing cooking facilities to refugee camps. In camps, electricity is often inaccessible to 90% of the population. Access to electricity can also reduce post-harvest losses and improve farming productivity, including irrigation systems, electrical machines, and vehicles.
How Kitepower Could Support WFP and Multiple SDGs in Future
Kitepower’s technology aligns with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which act as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity. If Kitepower participates in a future WFP Innovation Accelerator Sprint Programme, more work can be done to develop and extend potential solutions across various WFP contexts, in line with multiple SDGs. Some examples are outlined below.
Many farmers in developing countries rely on manual labor and traditional farming techniques, which can be inefficient and labor-intensive. Access to electricity provides enormous benefits linked to ending hunger and promoting economic development.. For example, electricity enables farmers to use modern tools and equipment, such as irrigation systems, tractors, and grain mills, that can increase crop yields and reduce labor costs. This, in turn, can increase food production and help reduce hunger (SDG 2).
By providing renewable power, Kitepower could also help to improve the shelf life of perishable food with electricity-powered cooling, reducing food waste, and increasing food safety (SDG 2.1). Additionally, renewable power helps small-scale food producers, in particular indigenous peoples, smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and fishers, to access better inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets, and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment (SDG 2.3). Moreover, the development of sustainable irrigation systems that can preserve water consumption and help agricultural communities deal with extreme drought or precipitation, facilitated by renewable power, can help to ensure the sustainable integrity of the food systems (SDG 2.4).
Kitepower’s Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) provide a zero-emission capability to produce renewable power (SDG 7) for use throughout off-grid locations and remote communities, contributing to fight climate change (SDG 13) and end hunger in developing countries (SDG 2).The limited access to electricity in many communities around the world significantly hinders access to education and economic opportunities. Unfortunately, women and ethnic minorities are often the ones who bear the brunt of this issue. By providing renewable electricity to these communities, Kitepower can help to bridge this gap and enable access to education and business opportunities that were previously out of reach. This can go a long way in advancing people’s livelihoods and promoting greater equality and inclusivity (SDG 4; SDG 5).
The conference represents a great opportunity for scientists and engineers, entrepreneurs and investors to gather and share their experiences, findings, opportunities and visions for airborne wind energy.
The program of the AWEC 2021 will include
plenary talks by selected experts from international agencies, industry and academia
contributed talk sessions in two parallel tracks
panel discussions covering all aspects of airborne wind energy
poster sessions, preceded by plenary spotlight presentations
View of POLIMI’s Bovisa campus
Kitepower will also be part of the conference’s program with two presentations:
Regular session:
Thursday 23 June, 11:20-11:35, Room Colombo (T.2.1): Company Developments – “First Airborne Wind Energy Operation on a Tropical Island” with Kitepower’s CTO, Joep Breuer.
Plenary Session V:
Friday 24 June, 15:15-15:20, Room Colombo (T.2.1): OEM Presentation – “Kitepower’s Journey to the Islands and Beyond” with Kitepower’s Founder CEO, Johannes Peschel.
We look forward to an insightful event filled with fascinating documentations of industrial developments, ongoing research projects and engaging panel discussions about key themes for the commercialisation of the AWE technology. In addition to the learning component, the conference will also be the perfect opportunity to network within the emerging community.
AWEC 2021 – In dedication of a wind energy giant, Henk Hutting
Henk Hutting is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of the modern wind energy industry in the Netherlands. He began his career in wind energy in 1982 when he got involved in the development of the first wind farm in the country.
He then coordinated a comprehensive research and development program covering all aspects of wind farming after which he set up and managed the wind energy department of energy consultancy KEMA. He continued as managing director of the joint venture Smart Tower, specialising in the development of support structures for offshore wind turbines, after which he became CEO of Win-Wind, a wind farm development company.
In the beginning of 2007, Henk started his own company, Hutting Windenergie BV, also continuing as CEO and shareholder of Growind, a company to develop and own a 63 MW wind farm in the Netherlands and as CEO of Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd, a company to develop and own a 300 MW wind farm in Kenya. In early 2008, he led the founding of the Vader Piet entities to build and operate the wind farms on the Caribbean island Aruba. The same year he joined NuCapital as CEO, specialising in the development, financing and commissioning of wind energy projects in the Caribbean and Central and South America. As an investor and board member, Henk was also pushing the improvement of the efficiency of solar panels and his interest in renewable energies broadened when he joined Futerra in 2015 as investor and Chairman of the Board, developing a factory in Portugal to produce BioCoal out of waste wood.
“We would probably not be where we are today if it wouldn’t be for his engagement and drive, his guidance and experience. We are fortunate to have known and worked with him”, said Kitepower CEO Johannes Peschel.
Henk Hutting’s portrait on a Kitepower’s kite during operation in Aruba
Henk Hutting was a true giant of wind energy and Kitepower (and many more) is standing on his shoulders. Henk was a pioneer of wind energy, an ambassador of airborne wind energy systems – let’s all try to make Henk’s vision for airborne wind energy a reality!
We hope to meet you all in Milan during the AWEC 2021 (22–24 June 2022) to discuss the future of wind energy, reminisce about the giants that came before us, and the future we are trying to build. Kitepower has already gotten far thanks to people like Henk but we are not done by a long shot – we are currently ramping up for the next leap, and you can be part of it. For more information go to https://thekitepower.com/crowdfunding/.
Join us at KIVI International Engineers‘ upcoming online session on January 27th at 19:30 to learn more about Kitepower’s product and mission together with CTO Joep Breuer.
About KIVI – The Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers
The Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers (KIVI) is the professional organisation for engineers in The Netherlands. With 20,000 members KIVI is the largest engineering society in the nation. KIVI offers its members discipline-based communities, a platform for addressing societal challenges and the ability to profile and give direction to one’s career.
The KIVI section “KIVI International Engineers” relaunches itself with the mission to cater for international engineers living and/or working in the Netherlands, and for Dutch engineers with an international mindset, and help knowledge exchange between the Dutch and the international engineering community. The presented webinar represents a great opportunity for the latter to discuss technical & societal topics, facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue as well as socialize and inspire each other.
Kitepower is one of 15 selected technologies in TechnologyCatalogue.com’s Tech for the Energy Transition Awards 2021. The Delft-based start-up has made it to the final in the Renewable Energy category with its Falcon 100kW AWES.
“We recognise the importance of technology and innovation in ensuring we are on track towards achieving a carbon neutral world. And we believe that by giving innovators with carbon-reducing solutions a global platform to get noticed and recognised, we are facilitating innovation and helping the Energy Transition become a reality”
Erik Nijveld – TechnologyCatalogue.com’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner
TechnologyCatalogue.com’s Tech for the Energy Transition Awards 2021 showcases novel and proven technologies in support of the Energy Transition. Submissions of technologies are assessed thereafter by a Board of Judges that will include representatives from major energy operators, technology experts and TechnologyCatalogue.com founders and country partners.
Webinar
As a follow-through activity of last year’s Tech for the Energy Transition Awards, TechnologyCatalogue.com is organising a 2.5-hour webinar on 15 February 2022, 10:00 am CET to give recognition to fifteen amazing technologies in the following five Awards categories: Carbon Capture, Use and Storage; Renewable Energy; Digitalisation; Safety and Maintenance.
On May 18th, a Kitepower demonstration event has been held at the Kitepower’s pilot site installed within Kaasboerderij Mulder‘s grassland.in Melissant, Goeree-overflakkee, South of Holland.
The event has been attended by impact-driven investors, farmers and tech entrepreneurs interested in the ongoing development of Kitepower’s Airborne Wind Energy technology and its potential application in a Dutch scenario that certainly urges a forward movement on renewable energy. Showcasing the current status of the Kitepower Falcon 100kW AWES gave a precious opportunity to exchange ideas on the applicability of the system throughout different customer cases; allowing for further identification of key development aspects towards a successful commercial implementation of the Kitepower system.
Kitepower operations had started in Goeree-Overflakkee, within the Kaasboerderij Mulder’s farmland. On January 26th, a Kitepower demonstration event has been arranged to showcase the system’s operation to local authorities and other interested parties. On the day of the event, a video crew from Rijnmond joined us on the field to document the operation and summarise Kitepower’s advantages and ongoing mission together with Kitepower’s Technical Manager Joep Breuer. The Kitepower Falcon 100kW pilot system installed is now being operated on a weekly basis for testing purposes.
Roland Schmehl, lead of the airborne wind energy research group at TU Delft and Co-Founder, Advisor at Kitepower, co-organised this event with Oliver Tulloch. Oliver is working at the Wind Energy and Control Centre at the host institution, University of Strathclyde. The Airborne Wind Energy Conference 2019 took place in Glasgow, United Kingdom on 15th-16th October.
Those two days was about wind, networking and sharing the process of the leading companies in the word of AWEsystems. You could have met with Makani, Ampyx Power, SkySails Power, Kitemill, Enerkite and many other AWEsome company representatives. In the Book of Abstracts you can find some interesting informations about the improvements accompanied with sneak peek pictures of the working teams.
So, what happened with kitepower since AWEC 2018?
From the beginning of 2018 until October 2019, Kitepower has performed 92 flights on 65 days at their pilot site in Valkenburg.
Currently, Kitepower is focusing on operating the Kitepower system for longer periods while increasing the power output and reducing the effort for supervision. After this phase, Kitepower will be able to implement more pilot systems in and outside of the Netherlands.
Let us present our 100sqm kite which is the next step for Kitepower to achieve our dream: “Our mission is to develop the first commercial kite powered energy system.”
Last but not least, Kitepower team aimed to further automate the tuning of new kites by testing them in various operating conditions such as rain, fog as well as low- and high wind speeds.
We would like to thank everyone who voted for Kitepower on the KVK Innovatie Top 100 public polling. We are glad to be among the 22 most innovative companies in South Holland and among the 80 most innovative enterprises of the whole Netherlands. Thank you for your support!
The KVK Innovation Top 100 shows what we are good at in the Netherlands: Innovate! Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) compete for a place in this Top 100 every year. And not without reason: research by KVK among companies that have been on these lists in recent years shows that innovation is driving growth. Almost all top 100 companies saw their profits increase, hired additional staff and became more active internationally. This makes a place in the KVK Innovation Top 100 a good indicator of success.
Expert panels examine all presentations. The registrations are assessed on availability and realized turnover, impact on the industry and society, originality and growth potential. There is deliberately no (money) prize associated with the KVK Innovation Top 100. The strength of the initiative is to show what small and medium-sized businesses are capable of. In the past 13 years, this prize has become the largest and most important innovation prize for SMEs.
For the 2019 edition also Kitepower took part in the initiative and made it to the top 100!
On Monday 9 July, on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kitepower and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency/RVO arranged a showcase event of the 100 kW Kitepower system pilot at the aerodrome of Valkenburg, the testing home base of the start-up. Sustainable energy experts coming from Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and Vietnam attended the event to witness the potential of airborne wind energy and the benefits of its deployment. Highly eased mobility and a strongly improved resource efficiency are the key qualities of airborne wind energy systems and what makes its technology more appealing compared to traditional wind turbines.
The event has been a success, the automatic operation of the system testified the efficaciousness of its deployment and we believe it represented a milestone in affirming the Dutch full commitment to a sustainable energetic revolution and acquaintanceship with developing countries and remote communities.
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.
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.
