MegaAWE

Here you will find publications and White Papers in relation to Airborne Wind Energy

Overview of project achievements

The MegaAWE project was planned to support the development of Airbourne Wind Energy in the NWE region through construction of a test hub and development of key technologies including aircraft & materials, tethers, & generators.

• Biggest problems in AWE were
• Lack of suitable test sites in NWE to test and demonstrate AWE technologies
• Low level of technology readiness in key areas, aircraft materials, tethers & generators, having only been demonstrated in-lab or on early prototypes for short periods and thereby reducing investability
• Lack of awareness by policy makers and in industry of AWE technologies as a potential renewable solution
• Lack of permitting framework within EU for AWE deployments

MegaAWE was led by Mayo County Council in partnership with RWE, Airbourne Wind Europe, Kitepower, The European Marine Energy Centre, Fuchszeug, BlueWise Marine, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Parkburn, Ampyx, SABCA, EIFI-Tech, Bretagne Développement Innovation & Siemens. The project was also supported by a number of sub-partners.

Despite significant challenges experienced during the course of the project including the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit & Ukraine war, the project partners achieved significant success in delivering project goals and outputs.

Highlights of main achievements

• RWE Airbourne Wind Energy test hub in Co. Mayo, Ireland planned, permitted, constructed and opened
• Successful permitting, deployment and operation of Kitepower’s 100kW Falcon kite system on the RWE test hub which continues into 2024
• First flight tests of Fuchszeug’s 150kW rigid wing AP-3 pilot successfully carried out
• Development and testing of aircraft, tether & generator technologies to aid in the advancement of the next generation of AWE devices and increasing the TRL’s from 5 to 6.
• Country level analysis of several EU regions carried out to aid developers identify potential suitable sites for future deploymen
• Workshops were held to develop conceptual solutions for several AWE systems to put the landing platform elevated in offshore conditions which is suited to MW grid scale deployments.

Highlight of key outputs

• 19 new jobs created and 61 jobs maintained in all economic sectors
• €10.8m funding leveraged by the project
• Strengthening of the AWE supply chain by supporting 9 enterprises including 2 to introduce new to the market products and 7 enterprises co-operating with research institutions
• Increased the visibility and understanding of AWE by public, political, academia & industry through project achievements & publicity, reaching over 96,000 people.

As a follow on to MegaAWE, project DEM-AWE has been approved and has kicked off to demonstrate combining AWE with battery storage to provide a solution that can replace diesel generators in remote areas. For more information, please visit https://dem-awe.nweurope.eu/