Vitality firm RWE put its new progressive Airborne wind take a look at facility in Eire to work for the primary time, enabling the maiden flight of a brand new kite expertise by Kitepower in Bangor Erris, County Mayo, Eire.
RWE is dedicated to exploring and supporting trade innovation and technological advances throughout all fields of wind energy. Airborne Wind Vitality is a brand new kind of wind vitality expertise that RWE is testing in Eire in collaboration with its expertise associate Kitepower, its companions in Mayo County Council and the MegaAwe Challenge, with funding from Interreg North West Europe.
The location in Bangor Erris was chosen after an in depth international seek for an acceptable location to develop this expertise. The location obtained planning permission earlier this 12 months to permit the Kitepower machine to fly.
Cathal Hennessy, Head of Onshore Renewables Improvement (Wind, Photo voltaic and Storage) UK & Eire stated: “We’re delighted that RWE helps to develop this new wind vitality expertise with our associate Kitepower. RWE is exploring many alternative trade improvements to see if airborne wind expertise may complement our present renewables portfolio of offshore and onshore wind, photo voltaic vitality and battery storage. With low capital expenditure and fewer supplies, Airborne wind has the potential to play a task in serving to to drive down the price of vitality additional. It can use winds at larger altitudes that are stronger, steadier, and extra fixed. It may be used onshore in addition to offshore and together with different applied sciences similar to photo voltaic electrical energy technology.”
Johannes Peschel, CEO Kitepower, added “Kitepower, because the title suggests, makes use of a big kite construction with a hybrid inflatable and glued fibreglass skeleton to carry the kite open. It has a wingspan of 60 sq. meters and weighs solely 80kg, together with the Kite Management and sensor unit. We are going to take a look at our Kitepower Falcon system in Bangor Erris, which might generate as much as 100kW. The Kite will initially be flown at as much as 350m altitude and over the approaching months could possibly be examined to fly at better heights. The devoted take a look at hub in Bangor Erris is the primary of its form and can assist us additional speed up the event of our system. We’re extraordinarily proud that now we have been in a position to contribute to the conclusion of this take a look at hub and are dedicated to including this new class of renewables to our international vitality combine within the close to future.”
Kitepower makes use of a Kite Management Unit (KCU) hooked up to the tether, to regulate the route the kite flies. The Dyneema tether (an ultra-strong rope which has a better power than metal wire of the identical dimension however lower than one tenth of its weight) is hooked up to a Floor Station, housed in a traditional 20 foot container. The bottom station has a generator which converts the mechanical vitality of the kite into electrical energy. Electrical energy is produced within the “Reel Out Part” when the kite is flown in a cross-wind determine of eight sample reaching a excessive pulling power which pulls out the tether from the winch within the floor station.
Throughout this Reel Out Part, the Kitepower “Falcon” produces electrical energy. When the tether reaches its most, the kite is directed again to straight above the bottom station by the KCU and the tether is reeled in utilizing a small quantity of vitality. This is called the “Reel In Part”. When the Reel in Part is full, the Reel Out Part begins once more. Usually these two phases take 100 seconds, 80 seconds for Reel Out and 20 seconds for Reel In.
RWE has established itself as a key participant within the Irish vitality market with an increasing portfolio of initiatives in growth and operation, operational since 2016, the corporate has two workplaces, one in Kilkenny Metropolis and one in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. RWE has one onshore wind farm in Kerry and two battery storage amenities, in Monaghan and Dublin. RWE’s goal for Eire is to develop its renewable vitality enterprise, the place RWE can be a long-term vitality associate for Eire in the course of the nation’s vitality transition to 2030 and past. RWE has over 2 gigawatts (GW) of initiatives in growth, comprising two offshore wind farms (1,750MW) and ten onshore wind farms ( 520MW) incorporating hybrid applied sciences.
