Construction of a test center to investigate the potential of airborne wind energy systems will soon be underway in County Mayo, Ireland.

Planned by RWE in partnership with Dutch company Ampyx Power, the facility will evaluate the performance of a 150 kW demonstrator system. The AP3 airborne wind energy system was designed by Ampyx Power to The airborne wind energy system will harness stronger winds at higher altitude. Source: RWEharness wind resources at higher altitudes with much less material than used in conventional wind turbines. The airframe is engineered to lift up to 4.2 tons of force during normal operation.

The system also includes a ground-based winch generator, a launch and a land platform. In power generation mode, the twin fuselage craft with 12 m wingspan rotates the generators by reeling out a tether from the winch generator to produce electricity. After the tether is fully extended, it is reeled back in as the device glides back toward the winch. This cycle is repeated to yield clean, low-cost electricity and is envisioned to be of value in amplifying the generating capacity of large wind farms.

.