Chinese scientists expect to soon make a breakthrough in airborne wind turbine technology, with the world’s first megawatt-level system set to take flight, according to the project team.
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The floating wind power generation system resembles an airship and is being held up as a possible power solution for remote locations and disaster zones where conventional power supplies cannot be used or are inadequate.
The researchers said their system’s output – more than 30 times more powerful than the best in other countries – could turn a scientific vision first proposed in 1957 by renowned scientist Qian Xuesen into a tangible reality.
In a lecture hosted by Beijing Radio and Television Station on August 17, Weng Hanke, chief technology officer of Beijing SAWES Energy Technology Company, announced that the firm’s latest power generation unit, with a capacity of 1MW, was preparing for a test flight.
The system was developed by SAWES in collaboration with Tsinghua University and the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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In January, at a test base in Jiangxi province, an earlier iteration – a 30-metre long, 15-metre wide (100 foot by 50 foot) white airship – steadily ascended to an altitude of 1,000 metres and hovered in the wind, transmitting electricity to the ground and proving the feasibility of the technology at a smaller scale.