High altitude wind energy? Or to market now?

[PierreB]

Maybe neither or both, right now, to answer the question.

Let’s try to be more specific, by noting three main possibilities which can be combined: average wind power, favored locations, then moving the AWES anchor to track areas of high wind.

1. If we take the average wind speed vs altitude, the increase of potential power may not compensate for the difficulties of implementation, including the considerable length of tether.
   (PDF) SMARTS Modeling of Solar Spectra at Stratospheric Altitude and Influence on Performance of Selected III-V Solar Cells
   The figure 1 represents an increase from 0 at ground level to 20 m/s wind speed at about 12 km altitude.

2. This is not enough: we should consider and know places with more advantageous specific values, as proposed by (PDF) Global Assessment of High-Altitude Wind Power.

3. A third and more advantageous possibility would be an AWES that they can move so that they are under jet-streams about 10 km high, and low-level jets (LLJ) much lower. They would then be installed on boats or ships, using live assessments:

Camarilloweather.comInteractive Global Wind Map

The region around Antarctica is a vast reservoir for still limited air traffic.
See also the subtropical zones of the two hemispheres, and the subarctic zone.

@PierreB

@PierreB

a 4500 m² NPW producing maybe 1 MW with a wind of 10 m/s

Perhaps half the area for more efficient flexible kites like those of SkySails. But an even greater area for flexible tether-aligned AWES.

That’s a lot of fabric, and for a short lifespan.

Things are perhaps becoming more advantageous for these fabric flexible kites, above all tether-aligned AWES like parasails, when harnessing high winds of such power.