An energy technology that even Google parent company and tech behemoth Alphabet couldn’t get to work might finally achieve commercial takeoff this year.
The German company SkySails Power last month announced that its energy kite concept would be taking to the skies this year on the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius. This could move airborne wind closer to commercial success than Alphabet-backed airborne wind power technology developer Makani was able to get before it crashed out of the market last year.
“Starting in 2021, a large kite will lift off at the eastern coast of the island to generate electricity for the CEB [Central Electricity Board] grid from high-altitude winds,” SkySails stated in a press release.