Kite power takes flight

As well as Olympic fever, August means two things for residents of Bristol. The balloon fiesta, happening now, and the kite festival, at the end of the month. The latter is particularly important – well, in these days of health and safety, where else can you jump on a skateboard, get dragged along at 20mph and take out a small child.

The Dutch, it seems, are also keen on kites. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have successfully completed tests which suggest that kite power may become another lucrative alternative energy tool.

The experiment harnessed wind energy by flying a 10 square metre kite tethered to an electric generator. It produced enough electricity to power 10 homes – around 10kW.

Having thrown myself out of planes and been up mountains there is one thing that has always held true – wind speeds are a damn site quicker when you go higher. In fact, at an altitude of 1,000 metres, it’s estimated that wind carries hundreds of times more energy compared to ground level.

According to Celcias:

“Researchers also plan to test a 50kW version of their invention. Eventually, they hope to build a multiple kite installation which has the potential to generate 100 megawatts, enough energy to power a small city. An Italian company, Kitegen, has gone one step further and designed a theoretical system, consisting of 48 kites, which could potentially generate a gigawatt of power.”