Kitepower – an innovative technology company developing kites to generate electricity as an alternative to wind turbines, has announced a collaboration with Ecospeed – a company operating web-based software solutions for energy and climate auditing.
Kitepower has acquired a license for Ecospeed’s software to determine the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of its airborne wind energy systems. Kitepower is a Dutch company that has developed a giant kite producing electricity for about 100 households – with much less structural and construction effort than a conventional wind energy plant and with a much smaller carbon footprint.
This statement will be tested, proven and documented with Ecospeed software for determining the product’s carbon footprint. It will measure the whole PCF for the kite and battery buffer plants, it will also be used to further optimize the plants and minimize the footprint. The data will be shared with planners, operators, and certification companies.
“This is a significant step forward in our commitment to transparency and sustainability. With Ecospeed‘s software, we’ll be able to accurately measure and document our system’s carbon footprint, further demonstrating our advantage over conventional power generation methods,” according to the company announcement.
Kitepower has invented giant kites that produce energy from the wind as an alternative to traditional wind turbines. Each kite generates about 450 MWh of energy per year which is enough to power about 100 households continuously.
What is revolutionary about the technology is that it uses up to 90% less material with the potential of being twice as efficient than conventional wind turbines with the same power output. That means less building and construction is required for the production of the system which saves costs and emissions and it also has a minimal use of land area.
The technology was successfully demonstrated during the first tests on the Caribbean island of Aruba and as a result, at the end of 2022, Kitepower raised a new round of investment. Now the company is preparing production for the first small series of installations.
The company plans to optimize its installations with respect to carbon footprint and the agreement with Ecospeed is part of this mission. It wants to prove specifically that the carbon footprint of its product is less compared to alternative solutions. Measuring the carbon footprint of the installation is also a critical part before starting the series production stage.
Relevant: Wind Turbines Can Capture CO2 And Generate Power
“In some countries, including the Netherlands, the manufacturer of a power generation system must demonstrate that its concept has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other solutions. It is clear that we meet this requirement compared to a conventional wind turbine, a photovoltaic system, or diesel generators. However, we want to go on to establish this specifically,” commented Johannes Peschel, co-founder of Kitepower.
