A consortium led by Kite Power Solutions Ltd (KPS) has secured a GPB 1.0 million grant from the UK Government’s Innovate UK Energy Catalyst to accelerate the development of its kite power generation technology.
The £1.0m Innovate UK grant will be used to scale‐up KPS’s technology to a 500kW kite turbine and validate the commercial viability of 3MW floating offshore arrays. KPS is aiming to deploy its first 3MW power system onshore in 2019 and offshore by 2021. KPS is targeting the offshore wind power generation market as its technology can reduce the capex of conventional offshore turbines by as much as 50% because its patented power system doesn’t require large quantities of steel or specialist installation vessels. Offshore wind installations are currently achieving a levelised cost of energy (LCOE) around £140/MWh and are projected to fall to £78/MWh by 2020. KPS expects to reduce that cost to about £50/MWh by 2020. Partners of the the KPS‐led consortium are BVG Associates, Artemis Intelligent Power, Imperial College, The National Composites Centre, Keynvor Morlift Ltd and Banks Sails.
