The idea sounds simple. If winds are stronger than 10km up in the air, why not build a power plant that can harness that energy? That’s what Cali-based Sky WindPower is proposing with their flying power plants. But how would these plants work and more importantly, how much cash would be saved? Well, the ideas is to….
fit each plant with four rotors to sustain them in the air (they’d essentially look like H-shaped kites) and in the process these rotors would also generate electricity, which would be transmitted back to the ground via aluminum cables. To keep the plants from flying off, they’d be tethered to the ground. Sky WindPower claims they’d be able to generate electricity at 2 pennies per kilowatt hour (versus 3-5 cents from conventional means). The downside of course is maintaining the generators. Otherwise, prototypes are expected as early as next year.
Flying Wind Farms [Economist via The Raw Feed]
