China has completed a test flight of what it says is the world’s first megawatt-class high-altitude wind power system designed for urban deployment.
The enormous S2000 Stratosphere Airborne Wind Energy System (SAWES) flew at an altitude of 2,000 metres in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, generating electricity and successfully connecting to the power grid – a world first for a high-altitude wind power device.
The aircraft-like structure functions as an “airborne power station” and combines an airship platform with wind turbines to capture stronger, more stable winds high above the ground.
“Traditional wind turbines operate by rotating their blades when wind strikes them, thereby generating electricity. This generator functions similarly, except that power generation occurs not at ground level but in the air,” said Weng Hanke, co-founder and chief technology officer of Beijing Linyi Yunchuan Energy Technology