High Altitude Wind Power

Flying Electric Generator (FEG) test flight video. There is enough energy in high-altitude winds to satisfy the world's demands. Wind-tunnel data suggests a cluster of 600 flying electric generators, or FEGs, could produce three times as much energy as the United States' most productive nuclear power plant. High-altitude winds could provide a potentially enormous renewable energy source, and flying windmills could put an end to dependence on fossil fuels. At 15,000 feet, winds are strong and constant. On the ground, wind is often unreliable - the biggest problem for ground-based wind turbines. For FEGs, the winds are much more persistent than on ground-based machines, more power and greater concentration. Having conducted tests with models, Sky WindPower wants to scale up experiments and produce a commercial-sized flying windmill with four rotors. The rotorcraft will go into the first layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere. Sky WindPower estimates the craft will produce 200 kilowatts per hour of electricity in an area that at ground level would produce none because of a lack of wind. Somewhere, the wind is blowing.