Other companies are also investigating the potential of “kytoons” – kite/balloon hybrids – or even flying turbines that can capture the energy of the jet stream at altitudes of 20,000ft, where the wind is constant.
The firm behind the Stranraer project, Kite Power Systems has already demonstrated a small kite-driven power station in Essex.
But it now plans to build a 500-kilowatt system at the Ministry of Defence’s West Freugh Range near the southern Scottish town after securing planning permission. This will be the first of a significant scale in the UK and only the second in the world after a research project in Italy.
The kites fly to heights of up to 450m in a figure-of-eight pattern, pulling a tether as they rise which turns a turbine that produces electricity.
By having two kites working in tandem, one going up as the other floats back down, electricity can be generated continuously.
One of the world’s first commercial-scale, kite-driven power stations is set to be created near Stranraer in Scotland in what could be a major step towards finding the “magic solution” to humanity’s energy problems.