a large kite on a cable. The kite powers a dynamo on the ground until the cable is fully

unwound. At that point the robot steers the kite out of the wind and the dynamo becomes

a motor that reels the kite back in. The technique makes it possible to use the strong winds

at up to several hundred metres altitude.

MoD wants to become more sustainable

One of the dream customers is the Dutch Ministry of

Defence. Peschel explains: ‘In remote locations the MOD

depends on diesel as a source of energy. That costs a lot of

money, and they want to shift to more sustainable energy.

This makes Kitepower an interesting and simple alternative.

But you can obviously come up with many more appli­

cations. More and more remote villages in China are being

electrified, and this can naturally be ideal for that as well.

Or for music festivals, or more seriously – in disaster areas.

Anywhere people currently use diesel.’

Patent and knowledge sharing

Together with V.O. Patents & Trademarks, he manages all

patent­related matters. ‘We have invested a lot, and in the

future we also want to market our invention and profit

from it. I should point out that we also share a lot of the

results of our research. This technology is still in its infancy

and the market potential is huge; it will develop further

especially through sharing research and working collabo­

ratively.

For more information visit kitepower.nl

Kitepower has had the wind in its sails in

recent years. In 2015, it received millions in

funding from the European Commission and

last year they won the Dutch Innovation

Competition (DIC) of the Ministry of

Defence – this initiative is sponsored by

V.O. Patents & Trademarks. Originally from

Berlin, Johannes Peschel is mad about

kites and kite­surfing, and recognised the

opportunities for wind power using kites

years ago. ‘I found out that there was a lot

of expertise in this field at TU Delft, partly

thanks to a research group led by Wubbo

Ockels.’ He moved to Delft and fully

engaged in the project. Together with his

professor, he then founded the start­up

Kitepower, which operates from the TU

Delft campus.

How does it work?

Wind turbines are expensive to build and

expensive to maintain. Peschel: ‘The poten­

tial of our approach really is a no­brainer to

me. You only need half the material costs

for our kites and only ten percent of the

maintenance costs, while the energy yield

is higher.’ It works as follows: a robot flies

DIC winner Kitepower

Wind energy with kites Ideal for remote locations

Mega-sized kites that generate energy hundreds of metres up in the

sky. That is the groundbreaking idea behind the Delft-based start-up,

Kitepower. Inventor and founder Johannes Peschel: ‘In late 2018 the

first commercial model will be ready and we hope to have sold six

kites.’

Johannes Peschel

VO Patents goo.indd 1 24-07-17 09:27