The Arc Engineering College in western Switzerland is one of nine European universities and partners working on the three-year KitVes venture, launched last year, to generate electricity on board ships.
Unlike a previous concept announced in 2008, which uses kites to harness wind power to supplement ships’ propulsion systems, the KitVes project generates electricity to support onboard auxiliary services, such as electronic equipment and air conditioning.
It generates power by raising and lowering 100m2 kites to and from altitudes of 1,000 metres, explained Valérie Briquez, coordinator for the project at the Arc Engineering College based in Le Locle.
“A kite flying at high altitude catches the wind. It pulls on cables and this traction causes an electrical generator to rotate,” Briquez told swissinfo.ch.
When the cables are entirely unwound the kite is guided to a position where it loses its wind resistance and the cables are wound in.
Based on this “yo-yo” phenomenon, the energy consumed by the winding phase is just a fraction of that generated during the unwinding stage.
The idea for the European Union-funded project was dreamed up by the Italian company Sequoia Automation, which is also developing kite-powered wind farms.
According to the KitVes website, the current project could generate between 60 kilowatts and 30 megawatts of power for one ship, depending on the set-up.
At higher altitudes, average wind speed increases. At 80 metres above the ground, the height of the latest generation of wind turbines, the average wind speed is estimated at 4.6 m/s while at 10 metres above ground level it is even lower – 3.3 m/s.
Experts say wind power starts to become interesting at 800 metres, with constant winds of around 7.2 m/s, which can generate almost four times the wind power of wind turbines (205 watts per square metre versus 58W/m2).
In the KitVes project, kite wings will be fitted with electronic sensors so that data on position, acceleration and orientation can be sent to a control unit on the boat.
Motors located on board the vessel will control the kite’s flight paths and also act as power generators.
– from swissinfo