Kitepower

Kitepower, a spin-off of Delft University of Technology, generates wind power with kites. The kite pulls a tether from a drum on the ground, and the drum drives a generator. Because there is no tower and no heavy foundation, the system uses far less material than a wind turbine, fits in a container, and reaches the stronger and steadier winds at higher altitude.

Kitepower has taken this technology out of the lab and into the field. Its 100-kilowatt Falcon is a mobile system built to replace diesel generators in remote places. In 2021 a Falcon supplied power during a Dutch Defence exercise on Aruba, the first airborne wind deployment in the Caribbean. Its smaller Hawk made 170 launches and landings at a test site with RWE in Ireland, and in 2025 Kitepower powered its first construction site, a dike reinforcement with Dura Vermeer.

NEON gave airborne wind energy a place in a national picture of the energy system. Together with Ampyx Power, Kitepower co-financed four PhD researchers in Roland Schmehl's group at TU Delft. One line of work placed kites in the wider energy landscape; another, shared with Ampyx Power, studied their environmental footprint and public acceptance. Rishikesh Joshi defended his thesis on system design and scaling trends in airborne wind energy in 2025.

The research paid off in practical lessons: kites are promising for specific uses such as defence and emergency relief, and a few simple changes make their sound more pleasant, which helps acceptance.

From the former NEON website

About Kitepower

Kitepower is a leading start-up in airborne wind energy, developing innovative and cost-effective alternatives to existing wind turbines by using kites to generate electricity. Its patented technology is a game-changer in the wind energy sector; it uses 90% less material while being twice as efficient than existing technology with the same power output. Unlike conventional wind turbines, the Kitepower system does not require resource-intensive towers or heavy foundations and is thus easy to transport and deploy. The system is able to harness stronger and more persistent winds at higher altitudes, allowing for capacity factors greater than 0.5 and in return cost-effective electricity generation, this opens up new geographical markets for the generation of wind energy. The 100kW system currently in development is ideally suited to replace diesel generator sets in remote locations to save costs and mitigate dependency on diesel supply.

Role in NEON

The multidisciplinary research program NEON lights the way to zero-emission energy. Kitepower fits perfectly in this program due to its mobile wind energy system which will open up the potential of high altitude wind. Kitepower will co-fund 2 PhD’s at the research group of Roland Schmehl from the TUDelft. The first PhD will look at the integration of our new technology into the existing energy landscape. The second PhD which we share with our friendly competitor Ampyx power will focus on the environmental footprint of Airborne Wind Energy and the public acceptance of this new kind of technology. NEON is the perfect vehicle to do combined research within our field and to progress our technology closer to full-scale worldwide applications.

Motivation for joining NEON

Kitepower’s goal is to majorly contribute to the global energy transition to renewables by offering a versatile, resilient and cost-effective alternative to conventional wind turbines and solar PV. The 100kW Kitepower system that is currently being developed has the potential to open up new geographical markets for the generation of wind energy by replacing diesel generators used in remote communities worldwide.

The participation in the NEON project represents a great opportunity to put the AWE technology on the map and further assess its implementation status towards a successful industrial establishment.

Text from the former NEON website (original page).