THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — A Netherlands-based company has conceptualized a wind farm where high-altitude drones gather the energy.
Traditional wind turbines gather most wind energy at the tip of their blades. Dutch firm Ampyx Power instead use a drone tethered to an offshore platform to gather wind energy at higher altitudes.
According to reNEWS, the concept-Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) system is deployed on floating platforms. From there, the drone would fly to an altitude of 500 meters, where it creates electricity from high-altitude winds.
Ampyx Power says the Energy Center for Research of the Netherlands calculated a virtual AWE wind farm operating near the east coast of Scotland to cost 137 Euros per megawatt hour. The company says this is cost competitive against other floating applications.