Ireland: Giant Kites Generate Electricity

On the windy coast of western Ireland, researchers are flying enormous kites, not for recreation, but to produce renewable electricity. “We use a kite to capture the wind, and a generator at its base harnesses the energy,” explains Padraic Doherty from Kitepower, the Dutch company behind the project, to AFP.

A 60-square-meter model was recently taken out of a hangar at the testing site in Bangor Erris, a small town in County Mayo that opened in September 2023. A team transports the device to the generator before connecting them with a cable. The kite, equipped with a system of ropes and pulleys, takes to the air and acts like a “yo-yo or a fishing reel,” details Doherty.

It can reach an altitude of 400 meters before descending to 190 meters. This repeated movement generates nearly 30 kilowatts per hour. The energy produced is stored in batteries similar to those used for photovoltaic panels. According to its designers, a single kite would be enough to recharge a 336-kilowatt-hour battery.

“This is a significant amount of energy, sufficient to power an isolated outpost, a small island, a polar station, or even a construction site,” asserts Andrei Luca, head of operations at Kitepower. The stormy coasts of Ireland, where the government aims to reduce its dependence on oil and gas, are an ideal playground for testing this new technology, dubbed “airborne wind energy.”

“A revolution in wind energy”

“We are witnessing a revolution in wind energy,” assures Andrei Luca, while his team monitors the kite's trajectory using piloting software. According to Padraic Doherty, one of the key advantages of the system is its quick deployment: “We can set it up in 24 hours and take it anywhere.”

Moreover, unlike “traditional wind turbines,” it does not require digging “costly foundations in terms of money, time, and energy,” he adds. His associate Andrei Luca summarizes: the kite is “far less invasive to the landscape, produces clean energy, and does not rely on a fuel supply chain to operate.”

A demonstration of its effectiveness took place in January during Storm Eowyn, which caused significant power outages across the country: the kite “provided uninterrupted electricity before, during, and after the storm,” claims Luca. Wind energy has long been touted as a future sector in Ireland. However, large-scale deployment of turbines, both onshore and offshore, faces administrative delays and limitations of the electrical grid capacity.

“Other challenges lie ahead for Kitepower”

The government aims for 20 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2040, and at least 37 gigawatts by 2050. In 2024, wind farms provided about a third of the country’s electricity, according to Wind Energy Ireland (WEI), the main lobby of the sector.

For Mahdi Salari, a researcher at University College Cork in the south of the country, the ability of kites to harness high-altitude winds with minimal infrastructure “makes them particularly suitable for isolated environments, at sea, or for mobile uses.” However, he acknowledges that Kitepower will face challenges regarding “regulation, safety, and system reliability.”

Nonetheless, he believes this technology could become prominent where “land availability, costs, or logistical constraints hinder the development of traditional wind turbines.”