> Nor is it absolutely necessary that the electricity generation is done on the ground. Makani, a firm recently absorbed by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has a different approach. It is lifting the generators into the sky, on board a pilotless aircraft with a wingspan of 26 metres. This craft has eight rotors, which act as propellers for take-off and landing. Once at operating altitude, however, they become miniature turbines. The electricity they generate (600 kilowatts at full capacity) is sent to the ground through a power line encased in a tether nearly half a kilometre long. Makani’s prototype has been tested in Hawaii and, later this year, a further series of tests from an oil platform off the coast of Norway are planned.
I'm excited to report that we really did pull off the offshore test a few months after this Economist story went to print.
Video of our recent offshore test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6NW0QeKLZA (I know it almost looks like a rendering, but it's for real!)
And a company blog entry about the test: https://medium.com/makani-blog/makanis-airborne-wind-power-s...
Makani was funded in part by ARPA-E earlier in its existence, and they recently also made a video about Makani that might be of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9Ly6na58e0