China tests high-altitude airborne wind energy system

China has flown an airborne wind energy system to 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) above sea level and generated electricity from the sky, in what state broadcaster CCTV described as a world first.

According to a CCTV report on Saturday, the prototype S4000 craft completed a full work cycle – ascent, station-keeping, power generation and recovery – at a test site in northwestern China, which the broadcaster called a breakthrough for high-altitude wind power and a step towards engineering deployment.

The craft, which is roughly the length of a Boeing 747 and resembles an airship, is filled with helium and floats into the sky carrying lightweight turbines. From a high altitude, it can harness stronger, steadier winds and send the electricity it generates back to the ground through a tether.

The craft can also be moved quickly between sites, making it suitable for providing electricity in remote locations such as deserts, highlands, islands and disaster zones beyond the reach of a power grid.

The S4000 was developed by Beijing start-up Sawes Energy Technology in collaboration with Tsinghua University and the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.