Pioneering airborne wind tech, Kitemill sets Norwegian record for EU funding

Kitemill is a Norwegian company aiming to revolutionize the wind power industry through its innovative airborne wind technology.

The company has already made an international mark by securing EU funding.

Not just once, but five times:

"I believe we hold the Norwegian record for securing EU funding," says Asgeir Løno, CFO of Kitemill.  

Why?

Kitemill's forward-thinking concept aligns perfectly with the EU's strategies for sustainable energy production. Airborne wind is seen as one of the most promising solutions for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.  

What is Airborne Wind Technology?

Airborne Wind Technology (AWT) is an innovative method for capturing wind energy by using flying devices, such as kites or airborne wind turbines, instead of traditional, ground-based wind turbines.

Since the technology operates at altitudes of several hundred meters, it can capture stronger and more stable winds, which are often inaccessible to conventional wind turbines.  

Unlike conventional wind turbines, which rely on massive towers and large structures, Kitemill has developed an airborne wind turbine designed to operate at 500 meters altitude.

Up where wind resources are significantly stronger and more stable than those reachable by a structure on the ground.  

Benefits of airborne wind systems

"With our kite, we reduce material usage by 90% compared to traditional wind turbines, as it's only the 'wing' — or kite — that extracts energy from the wind," explains Løno.

He compares it to traditional wind turbines, where the tip of the turbine blades produces the significant parts of the energy.

Whereas Kitemill's technology utilizes the "wing", or kite, to do the same work and capture energy, maximizing efficiency by reducing the need for structural materials like tower, base and long blades - most of the material used for traditional wind energy harnessing which doesn’t produce energy.

"The technology allows us to harness wind where the conditions are best at any given time. This gives us a huge advantage in terms of efficient energy production," Løno says.  

Kitemill has already demonstrated that the technology works with a proof-of-concept pilot generating 20 kW at an altitude of 350 meters. The goal is to produce 15 MW per square kilometres at 500 meters above the ground.  

"This is comparable to the power we get from today's offshore wind turbines, but without the physical limitations imposed by turbine structures," explains Løno.  

Another advantage of Kitemill's technology is that it avoids the problem of power-generating units creating a wake for each other, as is the case with conventional wind turbines. Since the kites can be positioned at different altitudes, so they don't block each other, the efficiency increases dramatically.  

Success with EU funding, but lack of Norwegian support

Despite the impressive results and Kitemill's repeated success in securing EU funds, the Norwegian company has struggled to gain support from Norwegian authorities.  

"Except for tax refund for R&D, I don't think we have received a single penny from Norwegian funding bodies since 2015 apart from tax refunds for R&D," says Asgeir. Larger innovation incentives seems to be biased for hydrogen, batteries and offshore wind.  

The CFO believes that the Norwegian government's requirement for industrial partners in early stage to ensure the eventual commercialization of the technology is outdated.  

"Most of these actors feel they are not set up to invest in such groundbreaking technology at an early stage," says Løno.  

According to him, Norwegian companies would love to buy the systems when commercialized, but don’t see it as their role to bring forward new energy generation technologies. He has talked to about 50 of them.

Further south on the continent, Germany seems to be more forward-looking.

They have introduced the first incentives for the development of Airborne Wind technology, with plans to establish parks with multiple systems.  RWE has invested in test infrastructure to propel AWE forward and securing a front row position once commercial.

The EU has already allocated significant funds for further development, and Kitemill is well-positioned to benefit from this.

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