Reel-in phase can last quite a while, while consuming power. If CO2 batteries work and confirm the claimed advantage of lower operating costs, this would be an option not to be overlooked.
Devices flying by figure-eight may delivering insufficiently smoothing power (reel-in phase aside), the irregularities perhaps not being able to be compensated by the multiplicity of units, due to their random nature. That’s why I thought about low radius loop trajectories in order to produce a more consistent and predictable power during real-out phase.
And sometimes the wind even stops blowing. Did you know it? In this case CO2 batteries could be useful if they work as claimed.
But just as a conventional wind turbine produces steady energy hampered only by the irregularity of the wind, so should AWES, or at least close to it.