Vision, mission and strategy: EnerKíte is a Berlin-Brandenburg company founded in 2010 by pioneers, enthusiasts, and entrepreneurs from the wind energy, aviation, and kite construction sectors. The makers and experts are united by the vision of making reliable green energy available globally. To this end, we are developing and marketing a unique, flexible kite system that can reliably supply green electricity almost anywhere. Our completely new technology will be introduced with pilot customers in a small scaling step as a minimum viable product (MVP) before gradually scaling up to the class of today’s wind turbines.

Lessons Learned: In recent years, we have had to cope with setbacks and delays on the one hand, while on the other hand we have shown, using the example of the fully automated take-off and landing system, that we can develop and master novel complex systems. Our interdisciplinary team demonstrates its expertise, ingenuity, and perseverance on a daily basis, driving the industrial development process for hardware and software forward with great care. We have developed comprehensive software functions and adapted them to the proven hardware components with the help of a new, reliable architecture. With the functionally completed prototype, EnerKíte has realized the world’s longest autonomous operating time, developed the principle of rotational take-off with automated take-off and landing, and demonstrated safe docking and undocking hundreds of times.

Our company has grown and matured. Supported by a strong advisory board, committed cooperation partners, and customers who are willing to pay, EnerKíte maintains its position at the top in the field of airborne wind energy systems (airborne wind energy sector).

Enthusiasts, experts and entrepreneurs

Industry-proven team and agile structures: We are a highly motivated, well-established, and proven team. Our know-how is based on an interdisciplinary approach. In the targeted systemic development of software and hardware, high-tech and precise prototype production go hand in hand. Currently 54% of the shares are in the hands of the founders. In 2019, we were able to double the strength of our team and attract experienced and young, highly motivated engineers for agile and solution-oriented cooperation with our experienced team. This has made possible the recent successes in rotational take-off and is the basis for industrial product development.

Management Team

Alexander Bormann

CEO

Pioneer, co-founder, enthusiast, and entrepreneur. As an aeronautical engineer, he has been successful for 25 years in wind energy and product and technology development for Siemens and Festo, among others.

Christian Schmeing

CFO / COO

At EnerKíte since 2019, 25 years of experience as Corporate and Renewable Finance Executive, Mergers & Acquisitions and Transformational Leader at Siemens, GE, Senvion and LM Windpower.

Bernhard Kämpf

CTO

Co-founder and Technical Director. Expert for control and simulation. Experience in managing industrial projects for Cargolifter, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Boeing.

Christian Gebhardt

CKO*

Co-founder, industrial designer, and successful kite designer for 20 years, current world champion in speed kiting. *CKO stands for Chief Kite Officer

Advisory board

Supervisory and advisory board

Daniel Blickle:  Investor and entrepreneur in the field of renewable energies and real estate.

Claudia Martens: Industry expert, former member of the board of directors at Areva Wind GmbH.

Challenge and Idea

Baseload-capable renewable energy: Today’s electricity from wind turbines is volatile and fully available only at stronger winds. Solar panels do not supply electricity at night. The gap between demand and generation is still compensated by fossil fuels. Massive enhancements of storage systems and the electrical grid will raise the costs further.

EnerKíte makes wind energy cheap, reliable, and baseload-capable. At high altitudes, the wind blows stronger and more persistent. Mounting conventional wind turbines on even higher towers involves an enormous amount of material and disproportionately high costs. We therefore rely on a flying replacement for the rotor blades of a wind turbine: A kite ascends to the required altitude through our unique, fully automatic rotational take-off and transmits the power of the wind via the tethers to the generator in the ground station.

Choice of concept: Customer benefits of the rotational take-off: The complete take-off and landing system is located in the ground station without weight restrictions, and is robust, safe, and easily accessible for maintenance work: reliable and yet cost-effective. Without flaps and propellers being required for take-off, the wings remain low-maintenance and lightweight. As the wing area increases, the system remains particularly well scalable into MW class.

Unique Kite System

Ultralight wings, proprietary software: Only the conception of the ultralight wing allows the EnerKíte system to be designed in such a way that the wing starts to produce electricity even in light winds. This leads to the high degree of utilization and baseload capability with the scaled product. The wing has no moving or driven components. This increases its reliability and operational safety and ensures long maintenance intervals. Alternative wings with drone take-off propulsion, i.e. integrated propellers and flaps, would increase the weight of the wing disproportionately and lead to considerable yield losses.
In brief: Heavy wings only fly when there is a lot of wind; light wings can generate electricity much earlier.

The patented concept with three tethers and horizontal tethers transfers the load of the wing at several points. This avoids large lever forces and allows for the light and at the same time stable wing construction even with larger spans.

In current research and development projects we are cooperating with the German Aerospace Center, the Technical University of Berlin, the specialist for fiber composites Invent and Teut Wind-projekte GmbH to achieve high performance and the target service life of 10 years with a specific weight of only 5 kg/m2.

Apart from the robust ground station and the lightweight wing, software development is another main component of our innovation. Ensuring a fully automated take-off and landing procedure as well as safe, autonomous operation under a wide range of wind conditions is a highly complex control and regulation task. Only our extensive proprietary software can ensure that the wing is always optimally positioned in the wind. This is constantly being improved in interdisciplinary teamwork and – just like the hardware components – measured against our targets for high yield at low cost and reliable operation.

Automatic operation

Start: The wing is launched fully automatically via a rotating mast. The rotation causes sufficient airflow and lift for the wing to be able to climb to greater heights where the wind blows, even when there is no wind on the ground.

Harvesting Cycle: Operating Phase (blue): The EnerKíte system works in cyclical operation. The wing flies crosswind at high speed and under high tractive force and thereby drives a generator winch via tethers.
Retrieval Phase (red):If the tether is pulled in, the wing is brought back. Only 10% of the energy previously generated is required for this purpose. The wing thus operates cyclically at a height of 200 to 300 m. The control system automatically recognizes the best operating height.

Landing: The landing follows the same procedure as the take-off, but in reverse order with the mast rotating. The wing is guided to the top of the mast by the retaining tether, so that a safe landing is always guaranteed.

Parking Position: In case of storm or thunderstorm, the landing and parking is done automatically. The tip of the wing is coupled to the mast head and follows the wind. This ensures a safe position in all situations.

Product Roadmap

Scalable system technology: EnerKíte technology is designed in such a way that the product can be scaled to the MW class. At the same time, the electricity production costs are significantly reduced. Due to our wing technology, EnerKíte’s scaling effects are more favorable than those of wind turbines or competitive products in the airborne wind energy industry.
In MW turbines, the wing areas reach 125 m² with spans of 35 m; the tether drums then have a diameter of over 1 m. With these dimensions, EnerKíte systems are still well below the dimensions of today’s wind turbines of comparable yield.
The large EnerKíte MW systems can also be transported in 40 ft containers. The advantages are even more evident in offshore use. The offshore foundation of an EnerKíte system is reduced to a floating platform that is anchored to the seabed only by means of hauling ropes. This saves the building of steel structures weighing several hundred tons. Floating cranes or installation vessels can be dispensed with completely during construction.

Product Construction

Tried and tested components and reliable partners: Telescopic mast, tether system with winch and wing are based on in-house developments with leading industry and development partners. These partly patented components work exclusively with the proprietary control software. The container, energy system, and drive, however, are industry standards.

EK200 FP functional prototype

MVP for market entry and preparation:

Market entry takes place together with pilot customers in different applications and markets. Both the pilot customers and EnerKíte are breaking new ground in the planning, approval, and implementation of decentralized autonomous supply solutions. To start this process as quickly as possible, we have developed a scaled pre-product based on the proven EK30 platform: EK200 FP, where FP stands for functional prototype.

As a so-called minimum viable product (MVP), the EK200 FP allows customer-specific connected loads of 20 to 150 kVA, nominal power of 30–50 kW and integrated storage units of up to 100 kWh in the small pilot series. The EK200 FP has all the functions of and behaves like the future series product – but in slightly scaled form.
With the EK200 FP, fundamental experiences are gained together with customers, and decisions are validated for series production and prepared for the market. This shortens the time to market launch of the series product by about one year and enables an accelerated market launch.

Serial product EK200

High economic efficiency for decentralized self-supply

The EK200 is EnerKíte’s product entry and the smallest series system in the future product family. The core area of application is decentralized energy supply and the substitution of diesel generators. As a wind power system in container format with integrated storage, it is capable of forming the backbone of a complete stand-alone grid. Other energy generators, such as photovoltaics, can be integrated via appropriate interfaces.

Competitive Edge and Positioning

Highest yield of all renewable electricity producers

EnerKíte systems compete in electricity generation with wind turbines, photovoltaics (PV), diesel generators, and coal-fired power plants.

Compared to wind turbines, EnerKítes generate twice the yield, while offering the same capacity. The systems are manufactured cost-effectively thanks to 90% material savings and are portable. Customers who have so far been against wind turbines perceive visual and acoustic impairments as significantly lower.

Compared to photovoltaics, EnerKítes have a 5 to 6 times higher yield due to the high capacity factor (PV: 12% vs. EnerKíte with 75%). This not only lowers electricity generation costs, but also significantly reduces expensive grid expansion and the procurement of storage capacities.

Diesel electricity costs almost 40 cent/kWh at a diesel price of €1/l. In some places, it would cost double the amount. Compared to a diesel generator, EnerKíte is just as mobile and flexible, but with significantly lower operating costs.

In the MW class, electricity from EnerKíte systems will in future be produced as cheaply as from current coal-fired power plants at less than 3 cent/kWh.

Leading in the field of airborne wind energy

Unique design – scalable to the MW class: Various companies around the globe are active as developers in the field of airborne wind energy systems. There is not yet a solution on the market. The solutions differ mainly in the take-off and landing function, the design of the wings (rigid kite or soft kite), and the type and position of the generators and the control system (on the ground or in the air). EnerKíte is the only company to pursue a purist concept approach with the aim of presenting the safest and most economical solution for energy generation: Simple in the air, robust on the ground.

Capacity factor: Only the conception of the ultralight wing without propeller, propulsion, control flaps and batteries or storage allows the EnerKíte system to be designed in such a way that the wing starts producing electricity even in light winds. This leads to a high degree of utilization.

Flexibility, transport, installation: Our lightweight container-based technology can be easily transported to the desired location, set up there without a complex foundation, and is ready for use after a short installation. Due to the flexible operating states and the rotational take-off, energy can be produced as required. If the system is no longer needed, it can be easily transported to the new location without extensive preliminary planning.

Low acoustic disturbance: Due to our compact ground station and the light, passive wing, acoustic disturbance is minimal. The tether is hardly noticeable during operation, as is the wing at high altitudes. Since the generator is part of the ground station, the noise of electricity production is not carried far through the air. In contrast to drone systems, take-off and landing are also extremely quiet.

Scaling: Drone or glider-like concepts cannot scale economically due to the weight of the structures or propulsion systems and cannot achieve the low electricity costs (LCOE) at a high capacity factor. Competitors who scaled directly or with the wrong concept encountered enormous technical challenges and ended up in financial difficulties. Thus, KPS is insolvent and Makani is no longer financed by Google’s parent company Alphabet.

Our pilot customers stick with EnerKíte and can understand our conviction and choice of concept, which ensures a clear competitive advantage through lower acquisition and operating costs and higher yields. Together we will benefit from a particularly reliable and economical solution in all performance classes.

Market entry and secure growth

Clearly defined exit strategy:

EnerKíte technology is scalable for the MW class and suitable for both onshore and offshore applications, where wind turbines are substituted in wind farms. Larger investments and time periods must be taken into account.
Together with ENGIE and other pilot customers, we will first enter the market on the basis of the 100 kW plant with onshore applications. The market volume for plants of this size is more than sufficient for a separate business case. The present financial plan is limited to this project.

Exit strategy: After successful market entry and achievement of the defined targets for product return, company value, and organisation, the company can be sold as a whole to a strategic investor in the energy sector. This will allow major investments for scaling up the product to the MW class and meet the EnerKíte vision.

Scalable business model

Focus on development, sales, and maintenance

The core of the company is the development service with affiliated test workshop and prototype construction. Development, construction, and final assembly of the first EK200 prototypes is carried out in-house. Software development is realized in-house as a key asset of the company and the know-how is protected by patents. The EnerKíte organisation is being developed into a certified development company. The final assembly of the EK200 series is subcontracted to an external, experienced industrial partner (“extended workbench”). This partner is involved at an early stage in the development of the plant.  Essential components such as the container with storage system, the mechanics of the take-off and landing system, and the wings are purchased as modules. The drive components, the hardware, and the sensor technology are as far as possible already tested, available on the market, and approved components. The operation is carried out by the customer. EnerKíte secures full data access to control the after-sales business. A separate EnerKíte organization is being established to handle the after-sales business including maintenance and repair. This ensures that EnerKíte provides full technical support to its customers and generates additional and important margin contributions to increase the value of the company.

Wind energy market

Doubling of the addressable market

The limiting factors for the growth of onshore wind energy are dwindling acceptance among the population and the scarcity of windy sites accessible by wind turbines (max. 200 m). Only 25% of the land area is suitable for large wind turbines of the MW class and only 2% of the land area is suitable for small wind turbines. However, at an altitude of about 300 m, strong and steady high-altitude winds are available on 80% of the earth, almost everywhere.

Even our first product (EK200) exploits this potential and will be economically viable in niche markets, such as replacement for diesel generators and e-mobility, with 100 kW output.

In the long term, we will address the MW class with our scaled technology and aim to replace classic wind turbines. At the same time, the locations that are not economical today or do not meet the requirements for transport and construction will become usable.
Enerkíte will double the addressable market volume in the MW class onshore. The advantages are even more evident in offshore use: Our technology enables us to detect locations with water depths above 40 m and quadruple the addressable market volume.

Entry markets and strategy

Niches and partners with growth potential: Fast-growing niches: Today, just as much electricity is produced by diesel generators as by wind energy. Our entry-level EK200 product offers an alternative to generating energy from diesel and thus enables savings in stand-alone operation in off-grid and mini-grid systems. In this way, a €12.3 billion niche can be addressed, which is made up of several strongly growing sub-markets: green island grids, mining and development, rural electrification, self-sufficient rapid charging infrastructure for e-mobility (supercharger) and disaster control.

Green electricity for the supply of islands: 11% of the world’s population live on islands. Worldwide, 12 gigawatts of electrical power are installed in so-called mini-grids in the form of diesel generators.
Within the framework of the Green Deal and the goal of increasing the share of renewables in energy production to 100% by 2050, the EU has launched a drive to supply green electricity to islands. Together with our partners in Germany, France and Portugal we are planning pilot plants with a capacity of 30 kW–500 kW. Here, EnerKíte is focusing on customers and applications in rural areas. The establishment of a local service center for maintenance and operation would be viable once regional demand reaches approx. 50 plants or 5 MW.

E-mobility as a growth market: The automotive industry is facing radical change worldwide. In future, it wants to offer clean mobility and must ensure that a reliable and convenient charging infrastructure can be used. With an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 47.9% up to 2025, the industry expects to invest €40.6 billion worldwide, much of it in the EU, China, and the US. A self-sufficient EnerKíte EK200 system can charge up to 50 cars with 200 km range per day. Regardless of the existing network infrastructure, the charging process is 50–80% cheaper than with current systems. With integrated storage and converters, our technology offers ideal conditions for forming an integral part of e-mobility solutions.

Mining and development: Mining and developmentthe enormous costs of transport and storage at remote locations. Increasing electrification is also changing mining practices. By electrifying underground mining operations, the total energy costs can be reduced by 40–50%. With EnerKíte, a mining company can save up to 95% of diesel electricity. With amortization after 2–4 years through diesel savings EnerKíte was able to win large mining companies such as K+S and Storengy in Germany for pilot projects. The mining industry anticipates annual investments in sustainable energy solutions of €3.6 billion.

Development plan and milestones

Phases of the secured EK200 validation: The EK200 FP (green) is being developed as a scaled pre-product for market preparation and introduction of the EK200 with a lead time of about 1.5 years. Solutions and tests are developed cost-effectively with the EK200 FP on a small scale; pilot operation with customers provides the experience to back up the EK200 development (blue). The development is structured in phases, as is usual in the industry. The work packages for the individual departments and disciplines are defined on the basis of precise requirements.
The concept, development and construction phases lead to the product validation phase, in which the performance and manufacturability of the system is demonstrated, and which concludes with the sales release gate. The final phase of process validation begins with the distribution of the EK200 SP series prototypes and ends with the series production approval. All documents, tools and processes for production, assembly, operation, and maintenance are prepared and verified.

Phases of system development (schematic):

Concept: Requirements gathering, concept identification, studies and evaluations, choice of the solution concept
=> Requirements document, Development plans

Design: Process definition, construction, supplier selection, quality assurance
=> Design freeze, order release

Creation: Production & delivery, Inspections, Integration and assembly, Installation
=> Operating approval

Product validation: Pilot operation, Performance and functionality records, Documentation
=> Sales release

Process validation: Operation serial prototypes, Verification of processes and tools for production, assembly, operation, service
=> Type certification, Release for series production

Technological competence: The first mobile airborne wind energy system with a capacity of 30 kW and 50 kWh storage was realized in 2012. Using a cloth kite, this system has demonstrated automated kite flying in harvesting operations and has generated electricity in hundreds of operating hours. In 2014, Fraunhofer IWES demonstrated a unique long-term flight of our system lasting 72 hours.
After the automated harvesting operation had already been reliably demonstrated since 2012, the automation of the rotational take-off not only required massive efforts in control engineering and software development, but also the adaptation of the hardware of the wing, the tethers, and the mast system. To date, thousands of take-offs and landings have been carried out under field conditions in 500 hours of testing.

Market knowledge and entrepreneurship: The technology was developed in close cooperation with leading players in the energy industry based on an in-depth understanding of systems and markets. The products serve in a unique way those gaps that cannot be filled with today’s products. Disruptiveness manifests itself in new and highly professional business models, in local value creation, and high acceptance.

Grants & Awards: According to the expert survey conducted by brandeins magazine, EnerKíte is one of the most innovative German companies in the energy sector and was awarded the “Seal of Excellence”, the Future Award of the Energy Region of Lusatia and “Best of Industry” by the EU Commission.

Pilot customers: Strategic pilot customers such as the French multinational energy supply group ENGIE benefit from innovation marketing and make their own contributions to the integration and validation of EnerKíte products. The partners enable piggyback expansion beyond the borders of Europe. Our pilot customer ENGIE, for example, operates in 70 countries. It has chosen EnerKíte as its development partner. The aim is to jointly develop a pilot wind farm in France and to use the EnerKítes economically in various applications worldwide.
A joint study on the onshore potential, taking into account wind conditions and available land in France, shows that the EnerKíte technology alone could cover the national electricity demand many times over. ENGIE is actively working with us on risk management, site selection, and licensing issues, and the evaluation of technology and its performance. The result of ENGIE’s lobbying work with the aim of obtaining approval in France will provide us with important information for approvals in other countries.

“From a techno-economical comparative analysis, EnerKíte was identified as one of the most promising technologies and best fitting our company’s missions and goals.” (ENGIE)

Increase in company value: Since its foundation in 2010, EnerKíte has financed itself through equity and subsidy programs. The previous development costs for a worldwide unique and fully automated system amount to €4.5 million. At the end of 2018, further subsidies in the amount of €3.5 million were obtained, as well as just under €1 million from private investors. The company value thus rose to approximately €16 million, which is 2.6 times the figure for 2015.