Altaeros Energies, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology startup, announced it will build the biggest high-altitude wind turbine in Alaska.
The company looks to launch a 1,000-foot-high floating wind turbine south of Fairbanks to bring affordable power to people in remote areas, according to The Spokesman-Review. Altaeros managers said it costs $0.18 per kilowatt-hour to produce power, which is almost half the price of off-grid electricity in Alaska.
Altaeros will use the platform called Buoyant Airborne Turbine (BAT) in its first long-term demonstration, setting it at over 300 meters high. The BAT uses a shell, which is helium-inflated, to fly to high-altitudes. The shell features a lightweight conventional three-blade, horizontal axis wind turbine, Energy Matters reported.
The wind turbine was created in order for the company to use the power of high-altitude winds. Adam Rein, a co-founder of Altaeros, said high-altitude winds are stronger and more consistent than winds closer to earth, News-Miner reported.
"Because of that, you're running the generator closer to capacity more of the time," Rein said.
A short-term test was run for the BAT a few years ago in Maine. After hearing about the Alaska Energy Authority's Emerging Energy Technology Fund, Altaeros applied and received almost $750,000 to help fund the BAT program.
"Although we hadn't thought much about it at the time, Alaska seemed like a great fit," Rein said.
The company said the BAT is able to generate more than twice the energy of tower-mounted wind turbines and decreases installation and transport, the second biggest cost of wind energy, by up to 90 percent, Energy Matters reported. Not only can the device generate clean energy, but it can also be used for expanding internet phone services and monitoring weather.
Once the system is installed, it does not require on-site personnel. The system can be remotely monitored and would only require maintenance to be checked periodically.
The BAT is still in its first stages of development, News-Miner reported. If Altaeros's test succeeds, the BAT will break the wind turbine height record by almost 300 feet, which would beat a Danish test model with a hub height of 460 feet and a maximum blade height of 720 feet.
