October 3, 2022
DELFT | With their first mobile airborne wind system (AWES), the Delft start-up Kitepower has the future of green wind energy in its hands: cheaper, more practical, easy to move and energy can be generated even in low wind conditions. Over 738 investors have now signed up and the crowdfunding raised some 120% of the investment money. With the money, Kitepower aims to provide short-term solutions for disaster areas, refugee camps, construction sites and festivals. Well-known Dutch sustainability experts the late Wubbo Ockels and the late Henk Hutting saw early on the potential of kites that can generate energy. To realize Wubbo and Henk's dream, Johannes Peschel - CEO Kitepower - launched a successful pan-European crowdfunding launched, the crowdfunding closes on Oct. 4, 2022.
Diversity week: who are the investors?
It is diversity and inclusion week in the Netherlands, which makes it all the more striking that 81% of the European investors in Kitepower are men. The largest group of investors is between the ages of 31 and 40 and most live in the Netherlands, England and Germany. Demographically, one possible explanation is that the CEO of Kitepower Johannes Peschel is originally German, the crowdfunding platform is based in England, and the system was developed in the Netherlands at TU Delft. An interesting fact remains that the lion's share of investors are men. Joep Breuer of Kitepower comments, "It feels a bit wry to communicate during diversity week that 81% of our investors are male, we are of course delighted with the success but the data indicate that there is still a lot to gain in terms of inclusion. All I could say about this remains guessing, let's hope that during the next investment round the group of investors is more diverse." Thus Joep Breuer CTO Kitepower.
Majority of wind turbines replaced around 2050
Kitepower aims to become an alternative to wind turbines. 'Over the past two decades, the installed capacity of wind turbines worldwide has grown by 14% per year. The lifetime of these wind turbines is 30-40 years, which means that most of them will have to be replaced around 2050. The goal is to do so with a greener alternative. Our system consists of 90-95% less material than comparable wind turbines, the lifespan is longer and repairs are cheaper. This results in significantly less CO2 emissions per kW gained' said Johannes Peschel, Founder & CEO of Kitepower
Cooperation Ministry of Defense
Kitepower is a powerful player in the world of microgrids; local energy systems that can operate independently. Currently, the market is still dominated by diesel generators, but Kitepower's mobile containers are a good and sustainable alternative. For the past five years, Kitepower has worked closely with the Ministry of Defense to deploy the power units militarily in hard-to-reach and inhospitable areas. 'Installing and running the system takes less than half a day and does not require any specific knowledge. Also, the containers need
no embedded foundation and can therefore be placed anywhere. That makes our units perfect for deployment in natural disasters or military missions. 'The possibilities are endless,' says Johannes Peschel, CEO Kitepower
