A 'moonshot' wind technology The other development of last week has less impact on Shell's bottom line but suggested where it may be headed in offshore energy.
Last Tuesday, an energy project little known outside Silicon Valley announced a partnership with Shell to deploy a robotic kitelike device in the deep ocean off Norway. The device is a wind generator developed by a startup called Makani. Essentially, it is a wing with propeller blades that generates electricity as it circles in the air in the presence of strong winds. It is attached to the ground by a tether that doubles as an electric cable. "Adapting Makani's energy kite technology to offshore environments is an exciting technical challenge, and we'll be drawing on Shell's extensive engineering and operational expertise with floating structures to make this transition," wrote Fort Felker, Makani's CEO, in a blog post <https://blog.x.company/makani-takes-to-the-ocean-with-shell-5aa74551917a>. "We plan to kick off testing of this new floating offshore system with demonstrations in Norway later this year, and we're developing additional partnerships to help us bring Makani's commercial system to life." Makani proposes that embodying a wind generator in the form of a kite, rather than a tower, saves on materials and construction costs. It is also more light and portable, and could be deployed in the deep ocean via a tether anchored on the seafloor. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
