Newest turbines may float among clouds

Several innovative companies in North America and Europe are looking to the sky as a new place to generate wind power. Sky WindPower, Magenn Power and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands are all developing airborne wind energy generators, the Economist reported. According to climate scientists, the wind is stronger and more constant in the jet stream than it is at about 200 meters, where the current highest wind turbine is set. Dave Shepard's Sky WindPower in San Diego is an H-shaped, four-rotor flying generator. It's connected to the ground by a long cable, and the power is transmitted through aluminum cables. Frequent maintenance will most likely be required, but Shepard says he thinks that by minimizing repairs electricity could be generated for as little as 2 cents per kilowatt hour. Canadian company Magenn Power has proposed a helium-filled airborne wind generator. Magenn plans to use the turbines in diesel hybrid systems where normal wind generators are not efficient. At DUT, Wubbo Ockels is developing a kite that spins turbine generators as it climbs in altitude. The research and development is being funded by Royal Dutch Shell and natural-gas company Nederlandse Gasunie. Ockels is currently building a prototype.