Airborne Wind Energy

Course introduction

Roland Schmehl

5 September 2025

CC BY 4.0

Outline

Kitepower

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Instructors & students

Dr. Roland Schmehl

  • MSc in Mechanical Engineering from University of Karlsruhe (KIT)
  • PhD in Fluid Dynamics from University of Karlsruhe (KIT)
  • Studied & worked in Phoenix, AZ, and Los Angeles, CA
  • PostDoc at European Space Agency (ESA)
  • Software Architect at TNO Automotive Safety Solutions (now Siemens)
  • Associate Professor at Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft

  • More than 90 peer-reviewed publications on airborne wind energy (AWE)
  • NWO project NEON, EU projects AWESCO, REACH, MERIDIONAL and AWETRAIN
  • Board of Directors Airborne Wind Europe, WP1 lead IEA Wind Task 48
  • Co-Founder Kitepower

  • Research areas:
    • Airborne wind energy, all aspects
    • Computational aeroelasticity and fluid-structure interaction

Dr. Daniele Ragni

  • MSc in Thermo-Mechanical Engineering from Universitá Politecnica
    delle Marche, Ancona
  • Researcher at German Aerospace Center (DLR), Göttingen
  • Researcher at NLR and DNW, the Netherlands
  • PhD in Aerospace Engineering from TU Delft
  • Associate Professor at Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft

  • NWO projects Sealant, THAMES, IPER-MAN
  • EU projects ENODISE, SMART ANSWER, Herwingt
  • ERC Consolidator Grant MORASINA
  • Co-Founder Muteskin

  • Main research areas:
    • Aeroacoustics
    • Noise from the interaction of rotors with airframe components

Students

  • MSc track Aerodynamics & Wind Energy (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering)
  • MSc track Sustainable Energy Technology (4TU)
  • MSc track Rotor Design (European Wind Energy Master EWEM)
  • Various other TU Delft MSc tracks that accept the course as elective
  • PhD researchers as part of their training

Course is followed by students from various engineering backgrounds

Not required is specialized aerospace engineering knowledge, but …
you should be familiar with fundamental mathematical and physical concepts

Who are we?

TU Delft AWE Research Group

Kitepower - our spin-off company

Photo courtesy Kitepower (2024)

Scope & learning objectives

Scope

  • AWE conversion concepts
  • Key elements of AWE systems
  • Potential & technical challenges
  • Industrial developments & academic research
  • Theory of tethered flight
  • Performance estimation
  • Wind resource at higher altitudes
  • Scaling up & wind parks
  • Economic assessment & markets
  • Environmental footprint
  • Legislation & certification
  • Social acceptance
  • Kite design
  • Kite flight dynamics, aerodynamics & aeroelasticity

Course learning objectives

  • Differentiate the working principles of AWE concepts (how)
  • Understand the challenges and opportunities for AWE (why)
  • Develop an overview of the AWE sector and understand what the different academic and industry players are working on (who & where)
  • Identify the technology readiness level of AWE concepts (when)

  • Develop modeling approaches for tethered flight
  • Develop operation approaches for AWE systems
  • Predict the electrical power output of AWE systems
  • Idendify the design and operating parameters affecting the power output
  • Understand the influence of the wind field, changing in altitude and time, on the power output

  • Understand how kite design affects power output and steering characteristics
  • Understand the aerodynamics and wing deformation of flexible membrane kites

Structure & resources

Structure

The course is divided into 4 parts:

  • Lectures 1-3: From kites to airborne wind energy
    Introduce AWE, and present a historical perspective on kites, and a portfolio of current prototypes.
  • Lectures 4-7: Physics of tethered flight
    Cover the physics of tethered flight and systematically develop a quasi-steady theory of energy harvesting with kites, complemented by a self-paced workshop in a Jupyter notebook (Python).
  • Lectures 8-9: Energy harvesting with kites
    Describe the practical operation of AWE systems and the performance and potential of the technology in the future energy system.
  • Lectures 10-12: Kite design and control
    Detail the flying components of AWE systems, with a focus on the flight dynamic, structural dynamic, and aerodynamic behavior, as well as control.

Each lecture takes 2 ✕ 45 minutes.

Schedule

  • Lecture 1: 05-09-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 2: 12-09-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 3: 19-09-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 4: 26-09-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 5: 03-10-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 6: 10-10-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture x: 17-10-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K (backup date)
  • Self-paced Python workshop: homework
  • Lecture 7: 14-11-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 8: 21-11-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 9: 28-11-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 10: 05-12-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 11: 12-12-2025, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K
  • Lecture 12: 09-01-2026, 10:45-12:45, AE Hall K

  • Exam: 30-01-2026, 13:30-16:30. ME-Hall I (34.D-1-200)

Resources

Brightspace: AE4T40 Airborne Wind Energy (2025/26 Q1)

  • Classroom lecture slides & video recordings + additional material
  • Literature collection: book chapters and journal papers
  • Exam collection: more than 10 years of exams with solutions

Book of Abstracts of the Airborne Wind Energy Conferences 2011-2024

2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2021

Social media

@kite_power
@rolandschmehl
@laddermill

  • News about recent developments
  • Photo and video footage from testing
  • Documentaries

The Story of Makani (Documentary)

Beyond the course

Internships & graduation projects

Industry

  • Kitepower (NL)
  • Skysails (DE)
  • Enerkíte (DE)
  • Kitenergy (IT)
  • Kitemill (NO)
  • Windlift (US)

Academia

  • University of Ghent (BE)
  • DTU Wind (DK)
  • University of Stuttgart (DE)
  • TU Munich (DE)
  • Munich University of Applied Sciences (DE)
  • University of Freiburg (DE)
  • Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (CH)
  • Politecnico Milano (IT)
  • UC3M Madrid (ES)
  • University of Montpellier (FR)

AWETRAIN: EU-funded Doctoral Network

  • Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action in the EU Horizon Europe framework program
  • Partners
    • Technical University of Denmark (DTU) - coordinator
    • Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
    • Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM)
    • Politecnico di Milano (Polimi)
    • Kitemill AS
    • Kitepower BV
    • Airborne Wind Europe

  • December 2024: Start project
  • Until November 2025: Hiring phase for 12 PhD candidates

AWETRAIN: Research topics

  1. The impact of unsteady atmospheric flows on AWE (DTU)
  2. Robust operation of AWE in low and high wind speed conditions (Kitemill & DTU)
  3. Robust autonomous control of an onboard generation AWE system (Polimi)
  4. Fully autonomous AWE operation over long time horizons (Polimi)
  5. Optimal scaling and clustering for AWE (TU Delft - AE)
  6. Wind farm optimization and operation (Polimi)
  7. AWE operation for grid serving behaviour (Kitepower & TU Delft)
  8. Reliable and functional electrical systems for AWE (HM)
  9. The mutual impact of AWE based plants on the electricity grid
  10. The economic potential of AWE in the European electricity grid (DTU)
  11. Strategies for AWE commercialisation (TU Delft - TPM)
  12. Achieving technological legitimacy for AWE from both a local planning and broader social-political context (DTU)

Questions?





kitepower.tudelft.nl

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