Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
March 2020
Udo Zillmann Kristian Petrick Stefanie Thoms
www.airbornewindeurope.org 1 § Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
Agenda
§ Airborne Wind Energy – principle and concepts
§ Advantages
§ Challenges
§ Airborne Wind Europe
§ Meeting with DG RTD
www.airbornewindeurope.org 2 § AWE principle and concepts
Overview
§ Principles § Ground generation § On-board generation
§ Different types § Soft wing § Rigid wing § Semi-rigid wing § Other forms
www.airbornewindeurope.org 3 § AWE principle
Ground generation (“ground gen”) or yo-yo principle
Kite flies out in a spiral and creates a tractive pull force to the tether, the winch generates electricity as it is being reeled out.
Kite
Tether
Winch
Tether is retracted back as kite flies directly back to the starting point. Return phase consumes a few % of Generator power generated, requires < 10 % of total cycle time. www.airbornewindeurope.org 4 § AWE principle
On-board generation (“fly-gen”)
Kite flies constantly cross-wind, power is produced in the on-board generators and evacuated through the tether
www.airbornewindeurope.org 5 § AWE principle
The general idea: Emulating the movement of a blade tip but at higher altitudes
Source: Erc Highwind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UmN3MiR65E Makani www.airbornewindeurope.org 6 § AWE principle
Fundamental idea of AWE systems
• With a conventional wind turbine, the outer 20 % of the blades (the fastest moving part) generates about 60% of the power • AWE is the logical step to use only a fast flying device that emulates the blade tip.
www.airbornewindeurope.org 7 § AWE concepts
Concepts of our members – soft, semi-rigid and rigid wings
www.airbornewindeurope.org 8 § AWE Concept
Overview of technological concepts Aerostatic concepts are not in scope of this presentation
Source: Ecorys 2018 www.airbornewindeurope.org 9 § AWE Concept
Rigid kite with Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL)
1. Launch 2. Produce Electricity 3. Land The kite takes flight powered by electric Once the tether reaches a minimum length If the wind stops, the propellers engage, and propellers. The tether reels out of the winch the propellers turn off. Driven by the wind the kite transitions to hover mode and the at a constant speed until it reaches a alone, the kite flies ‘pumping cycles’, each tether reels in entirely. minimum length. consisting of a series of loops followed by a The kite returns to the platform until the wind short recovery phase. Electricity is generated picks up. as the kite pulls the tether from the winch.
300 m Twing
Wind Altitude
Pumping Cycle 150 m
Ground Station with Generator
1 Vertical Take-off and Landing Source: TwingTec www.airbornewindeurope.org 10 www.airbornewindeurope.org 11 § AWE Concept
Soft kite: Launch with a mast
Source: Skysails www.airbornewindeurope.org 12 § AWE Concept
Rigid kite: Catapult Launch and Landing
www.airbornewindeurope.org 13 § AWE Concept
Semi-rigid kite: Rotating arm
Source: Enerkite www.airbornewindeurope.org 14 § AWE Concept
Ground-based generation technologies have developed over time
TwingTec Rigid 1-line Kitemill E-kite wing/ 2-lines Skypull VTOL 3-lines KPS
1-line Ampyx Power Rigid 2-lines wing 3-lines Enerkite
1-line Skysails Kitepower 2-lines Soft kite Kitenergy 3-lines
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
www.airbornewindeurope.org 15 § Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
Agenda
§ Airborne Wind Energy
§ AWE Advantages
§ Challenges
§ Airborne Wind Europe
www.airbornewindeurope.org 16 § AWE Advantages
Overview
§ Less material: lower environmental impact: CO2 footprint, visual, resources
§ Additional wind resources: capturing more renewable potential globally
§ High full load hours: more constant electricity production
§ Low LCOE: potential for lower cost of energy produced
§ Flexibility: easier logistics, quick set-up
§ Scalability: from few kW to several MW
§ New markets: Repowering and floating offshore
www.airbornewindeurope.org 17 § AWE advantages
Less material, more compact, lower visual impact
Size comparison of a 100 kW system
Source: TwingTec www.airbornewindeurope.org 18 § AWE advantages
Lower material costs – a large share of a conventional turbine‘s cost structure is for tower, blades and foundation Percentag e of CAPEX
source: IRENA www.airbornewindeurope.org 19 § AWE advantages
Less material, lower carbon footprint
§ 7 MW wind power plant: nearly 5,000 tons of material. § AWE systems require about 90% less material than conventional wind turbines § Tower, foundation, nacelle, large share of rotor blade mass become obsolete § indicative 90% onshore and 97% offshore § Saving resources concrete and steel reduce the environmental impact of the system during production -> higher material efficiency § Materials reduction influcences all levels of the value chain § The lower carbon footprint can offer additional economic advantages in case carbon prices rise in future
§ “AWE is substituting hardware with software”
www.airbornewindeurope.org 20 § AWE advantages
Less material for same power and higher energy output
Example of a 30 kW system
Source: TwingTec www.airbornewindeurope.org 21 § AWE Advantages
More available wind resources world-wide
Wind power increases with the cube of the increase of the wind speed (v3). The average wind speed increases with the height from the ground.
www.airbornewindeurope.org 22 § AWE Advantages
More available wind resources in Europe
100 m 500 m
Bechtle et. al., to be published, wind data: ERA5 Light green means excellent conditions
www.airbornewindeurope.org 23 § AWE Advantages
Higher altitude means more wind, resulting in higher energy yields and improved economics
100 m altitude 200 m altitude
IRENA: Global Atlas, Map data: DTU 2015, OpenStreetMap contributors www.airbornewindeurope.org 24 § AWE Advantages
More full load hours, more constant electricity production, less intermittency, better system integration Higher capacity factor (60%-80% or beyond) compared to conventional wind (30-60%) and solar (15-25%)
Kite
Graph: Enerkite www.airbornewindeurope.org 25 § AWE Advantages
More full-load hours: Power curves allow low cut-in speeds
Gupta et al. (2019). Power Curve Analysis Of On-ground Airborne Wind Energy Systems
www.airbornewindeurope.org 26 § AWE Advantages
Low LCOE due to less material and higher yield
Support only required at a comparably low level and not for a long time
3-6
Source: Kitemill www.airbornewindeurope.org 27 § AWE Advantages
Markets
Source: Skysails www.airbornewindeurope.org 28 § AWE Advantages
Flexibility: quick set-up, easier logistics, greater availability of suitable sites
§ Containerized solution for small systems are possible, only simple foundation necessary if any § Flexible solution for islands and other remote communities (including resorts) – substituting expensive diesel generation § In hurricane areas the systems can be secured to avoid damage § Mines: They can plan only for a few years ahead can relocate AWE systems during lifetime
Source: TwingTec, Kitemill
www.airbornewindeurope.org 29 § AWE Advantages
Deep offshore – only small platform required
Avoiding fixed bottom structures reduces environmental impact on seabed flora and maritime fauna (e.g. whales).
Source: Makani www.airbornewindeurope.org 30 § AWE Advantages
Repowering of existing off-shore sites
www.airbornewindeurope.org 31 § AWE Advantages
Hybrid installations with solar fields possible
Source: Enerkite www.airbornewindeurope.org 32 § AWE advantages
High system scalability from few kW to several MW
§ Current demonstrator systems are in the 30-50 kW range § First commercial systems will be in the 100 – 250 kW range § Upscaling to > 2 MW is foreseen by all companies
§ The wide power range will allow a multitude of applications which are difficult to achieve with horizontal axis turbines
§ This scalability and modularity makes AWE comparable to photovoltaics.
§ Energy density 20 MW/km2 compared to wind 4-5 MW/km2 and solar 4–9 MW/km2.
www.airbornewindeurope.org 33 § AWE advantages
Potentially higher energy density: less space use for the same capacity
Energy density up to 20 MW/km2 compared to conventional wind 4-5 MW/km2 and solar 4–9 MW/km2.
Source: Ampyx, TwingTec Check source for values www.airbornewindeurope.org 34 § AWE Advantages
“Spill-over effect” to applications in maritime transport sector
AWE knowledge can help decarbonising maritime shipping
Skysails www.airbornewindeurope.org 35 § AWE Advantages
Markets and sequence of potential AWES deployment
Grid-connected onshore deployment will be important for early upscaling
Source: Ecorys 2018 www.airbornewindeurope.org 36 § AWE advantages
AWE becoming part of a wide renewable energy mix
§ AWE is complementary to traditional wind, e.g. areas with currently low wind resources § There will be areas where AWE will be the best and most suited RET § But in other areas there will be other RETs, including conventional on- and offshore wind § AWE is part of the wind community § We are not competition to the wind community because we also need support of the wind community § A suite of renewable technologies is required to make the energy transition happen § All RE technologies are needed, distributed and centrally deployed. § They have to be continuously improved to reach a 100% RE energy system § AWE competes against fossil and nuclear energies, not against other renewables
www.airbornewindeurope.org 37 § Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
Agenda
§ Airborne Wind Energy
§ Advantages
§ Challenges
§ Airborne Wind Europe
www.airbornewindeurope.org 38 § Challenges
Barriers affecting the Investment risk and LCOE of AWES technologies
Source: EC / Ecorys 2018 www.airbornewindeurope.org 39 § Challenges
AWE companies will face “Valley of Death”: Still high risk and high funding needs (especially public funding)
Maturity Applied R&D, Commercial Basic R&D Demonstration Deployment Prototype viability Science or Part-scale Full- Research Centers Dominant design Fully-commercial industry led scale
Perceived / real risk
Valley of Death public private Funding needs
www.airbornewindeurope.org 40 § Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
Agenda
§ Airborne Wind Energy
§ Advantages
§ Challenges
§ AWE sector and Airborne Wind Europe
www.airbornewindeurope.org 41 § AWE sector and Airborne Wind Europe
Overview
§ AWE in the world
§ Stakeholders
§ Airborne Wind Europe
§ AWE Conferences
§ Working Group Safety and Technical Guidelines
§ Working Group Roadmap
www.airbornewindeurope.org 42 § AWE sector
Most AWE activities are concentrated in Europe
Source: TU Delft www.airbornewindeurope.org 43 § AWE sector
AWE has been supported by public and private stakeholders
Public institutions Private companies
www.airbornewindeurope.org 44 § AWE sector
The AWE sector will have to deal with many stakeholders
Clients / Investors Financial Sector Administration
Utilities (e.on, RWE, Grid operators, regulators, Stadtwerke,...) EIB, Banks, Private investors, airspace authorities, EASA, funds, public investors local administrations, Project developers certification bodies ...
European Commission AWE comanies National Ministries
DG RTD, Technology Developers, DG ENER, DG COMP, DE, IE, NL, NO, UK, ... Supply Chain Companies DG JRC, DG CLIMA, EASME, ...
Research Institutions Associations General public Universities, EUREC, Citizens (final electricity ETIP Wind, other institutes WindEurope, GWEC, national consumers, tax payers), civil like . InnoEnergy, DLR, IEA, associations IRENA society, NGOs www.airbornewindeurope.org 45 § AWE sector
Airborne Wind Europe – members and collaboration
Airborne Wind Europe
Member of:
Planned collaboration:
www.airbornewindeurope.org 46 § AWE sector
European commission study on AWE (Ecorys 2018)
“[…] The study provides an overview of the technological state of the art, assesses market potential and barriers, and outlines measures and a pathway towards commercialisation. The study finds that the technology is still immature, and that it remains unclear whether the technology can ultimately reach cost-competitiveness and contribute to EU energy security and decarbonisation targets. However, the AWES case from the perspective of EU industrial leadership is strong. Moreover, there is sufficient potential to continue exploring the technology. The sector needs to do so under a risk-controlled technology development approach. […]” www.airbornewindeurope.org 47 § AWE sector
ETIP Wind – Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda
“Researchers need to look for game changers for wind energy […]
To that end, […] the viability of new prototypes of airborne wind energy systems should be researched.”
www.airbornewindeurope.org 48 § AWE sector
Airborne Wind Energy Conference (AWEC)
2009: Chico, CA, USA 2010: Stanford, CA, USA 2011: Leuven, Belgium 2012: Hampton, VA, USA 2013: Berlin, Germany in 2013 biennial event since then
www.airbornewindeurope.org 49 § AWE Sector
AWEC 2019 Glasgow
§ More than 220 delegates from 21 countries § 5 plenary talks by selected experts from international agencies, industry and academia (WindEurope, Ampyx Power, Makani, IEA and Politecnico di Milano), § 11 contributed talk sessions in two parallel tracks, comprising a total of 42 presentations, § 5 panel discussions covering all aspects of airborne wind energy, including a further 10 presentations, § 2 poster sessions, each preceded by plenary spotlight presentations, with altogether 21 poster presentations.
www.airbornewindeurope.org 50 § AWE Sector
Airborne Wind Energy at WindEnergy Hamburg2018
Highly frequented booth with over 1000 visitors
www.airbornewindeurope.org 51 § Airborne Wind Europe
Two active Working Groups since end of 2018
Airborne Wind Europe
Working Group 1 Working Group 2 Working Group 3 WG x Safety & WG x Roadmap WG Environment Technical Guidelines Grid Grid
www.airbornewindeurope.org 52 § Airborne Wind Europe
Two active Working Groups since end of 2018
Airborne Wind Europe
Working Group 1 Working Group 2 Working Group 3 WG x Safety & WG x Roadmap WG Environment Technical Guidelines Grid Grid
www.airbornewindeurope.org 53 § AWE Working Group Safety and Technical Guidelines Objectives
§ Ensure safe operations § Any accident can harm the entire sector (apart from the harm done) § Shape new standards for AWE system according to the sector’s needs § Neither IEC wind standards nor aviation standards currently consider AWE § Get aligned with regulatory authorities § To be prepared for commercialisation § Ensure that AWES are considered power generation systems § Viable operation is key § Apply a flexible approach that will fit all concepts and markets. § Not all AWE companies plan to use aviation standards § Certain AWE concepts can/should be treated as obstruction instead of an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) www.airbornewindeurope.org 54 § AWE Working Group Safety and Technical Guidelines We develop a Technical AWE Guideline based on IEC Standard 61400 and complemented by other standards
Aviation / Airspace or IEC Standards AWE Guideline / Standard other standards IEC 61400-1 Main structure according to Where necessary or Design requirements IEC 61400 appropriate • … • 5. Principal elements Priorities: •. • 6. External conditions Tether •. • 7. Structural Design Ground station •. • 8. Control System Airborne structure EASA / JARUS Standard •. • … Wind conditions and Power performance SORA (Specific Operations Risk IEC 61400-12 •. … Power performance Assessment) •. measurements Operations Risk assessment IEC 61508: Functional safety of electrical systems www.airbornewindeurope.org 55 § AWE Working Group Safety and Technical Guidelines We are working on common Safety Principles
Safety Principles
•. General: • Reference Standards • Compliance • ... •. Design •. Production and Verification •. Operations and Maintenance • Authority Approval • ... Signed by:
www.airbornewindeurope.org 56 § Airborne Wind Europe
Two active Working Groups since end of 2018
Airborne Wind Europe
Working Group 1 Working Group 2 Working Group 3 WG x Safety & WG x Roadmap WG Environment Technical Guidelines Grid Grid
www.airbornewindeurope.org 57 § AWE Roadmap
A Roadmap for the European Airborne Wind Sector
§ Objective: Estimate sector’s growth plans in a bottom-up approach.
§ Ten companies collaborated in Working Group § Data reflect their business plans until 2030 for pre-commercial and commercial projects: § Number of systems § MW installed § investment needs § jobs created.
§ Top-down analysis to estimate AWE market potential for 2050
www.airbornewindeurope.org 58 § AWE Roadmap
First commercial systems in 2020/21; 9 out of 10 companies plan commercial systems by 2023
www.airbornewindeurope.org 59 § AWE Roadmap
Pre-commercial systems: At least 200 Mio Euro cumulated investment needs until 2022
Note: Two out of ten companies did not provide investment needs
www.airbornewindeurope.org 60 § AWE Roadmap
Cumulated capacity in the GW-range by 2030 is seen as realistic – but there are still many unknown developments Unknowns: • Technology advancements • AWE and RE policies • Regulation, • Markets • etc.
Range
www.airbornewindeurope.org 61 § AWE Roadmap
Very fast growth within a short time frame is possible
§ Within 10 years a technology can grow into the GW range in a single market § PV Germany in 2000-10: from a few MW to 15 GW (single market!) § UK offshore wind 2002-12: from 0 to 3 GW
§ Within one year capacity in the GW-range can double in a single market: § PV Germany in 2008-09: from 1.9 to 4.4 GW § UK Offshore Wind 2011-12: from 0.5 to 1.1 GW
§ But: § PV and onshore wind were proven technologies when large-scale deployment started while AWE is still in the development phase. www.airbornewindeurope.org 62 § Global scenarios
GWEC (2016): Up to 5800 GW of wind power expected by 2050
Several hundred GW for AWE in 2050 are considered realistic
https://gwec.net/publications/global-wind-energy-outlook/ www.airbornewindeurope.org 63 § AWE Roadmap
Global 100% RE scenario: Global wind capacities of about 10,000 GW on- and offshore by 2050
Several hundred GW are realistic, if global wind capacity reaches 3- 10,000 GW by 2050
LUT_EWG 2019, Global Energy System based on 100% Renewable Energy (Lappeenranta University of Technology Research and Energy Watch Group) www.airbornewindeurope.org 64 § AWE Roadmap
Conclusions
1. GW-range by 2030 possible – but many unknowns
2. AWE commercialization 2021 - 2024
3. Pre-commercial investment needs > 200 Mio EUR by 2022
4. Several hundred GW by 2050 seem realistic
5. Detailed study of potentials and scenarios required
www.airbornewindeurope.org 65 § Contact
Thank you for your attention!
Udo Zillmann Kristian Petrick Secretary General Policy and Regulation +49 173 7141203 +34 637 710 451 [email protected] kristian. [email protected]
Airborne Wind Europe Avenue de la Renaissance 1 1000 Brussels, Belgium [email protected] www.airbornewindeurope.org
www.airbornewindeurope.org 66 § Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
Agenda – Back-up
§ Examples / Visualisations
§ Other potentially useful slides § Some of following slides which show potentially useful illustrations may be adapted
www.airbornewindeurope.org 67 § Examples
Ampyx Power
www.airbornewindeurope.org 68 § Examples
Ampyx Power
www.airbornewindeurope.org 69 § Examples
Kitemill
www.airbornewindeurope.org 70 § Examples
Kitemill
www.airbornewindeurope.org 71 § Examples
Skysails
www.airbornewindeurope.org 72 § Examples
TwingTec
Product TT100 (100 kW) TT500 (500 kW) TT3000 (3000 kW)
LCOE (€/MWh) 100 – 200 50 - 100 << 50
Target market off-grid
on-grid, on-shore
on-grid, off-shore
www.airbornewindeurope.org 73 § Examples
Enerkite
www.airbornewindeurope.org 74 § Examples
Enerkite
www.airbornewindeurope.org 75 § Examples
Kitepower
Potential remote application (photo montage
www.airbornewindeurope.org 76 § Examples
Kitepower Winch
www.airbornewindeurope.org 77 § Examples
Makani
www.airbornewindeurope.org 78 § Examples
Maybe the future: Dual wind drones in very high altitudes using jet stream
Source: Antonello Cherubini www.airbornewindeurope.org 79 § Introduction to Airborne Wind Energy
Agenda – Back-up
§ Examples / Visualisations
§ Other potentially useful slides § Some of following slides which show potentially useful illustrations may be adapted
www.airbornewindeurope.org 80 § Examples
Kitepower – kite components
Exemplary yoyo-system (Peschel, Kitepower) www.airbornewindeurope.org 81 § Other ideas
Higher wind speeds at higher altitudes
www.airbornewindeurope.org 82 Markets
www.airbornewindeurope.org 83 § Examples
Companies Europe I
Ampyx Power, NL www.ampyxpower.com
EnerKíte, GER www.enerkite.de e-kite, NL www.e-kite.com
Kitenergy, IT www.kitenergy.net
KiteGen, IT http://kitegen.com
Kitemill, NO www.kitemill.no
Kitepower, NL https://kitepower.nl
www.airbornewindeurope.org 84 § Examples
Companies Europe II
Kite Power Systems, UK www.kitepowersystems.com
Kite-X http://kitex.tech
Omnidea-RTG, GER www.omnidea-rtg.de
Skypull, CH http://skypull.com
SkySailsPower, GER www.skysails.info
TWINGTEC, CH http://twingtec.ch
www.airbornewindeurope.org 85