Some clues about existing wind turbines on https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-typical-cost-for-the-generator-of-a-wind-turbine-direct-drive-and-geared :
General Rules:
- The higher the rated capacity the lower the cost per kW.
We might think that it would be the same for the pumping (yo-yo) AWES generator(s). Thus a single large generator would be less expensive than ten or more smaller generators totaling the same power as the single large generator.
But in all cases the low speed of a third of the wind speed of the tether motion during the reel-out phase would remain a handicap compared to existing wind turbines, as stated.
It would perhaps be different if the single generator for several AWES would total much greater power than the generator of the largest existing wind turbines.
But, in the same comment:
- The whole turbine assembly—the thing that gets mounted on the tower—represents a surprisingly small fraction of total system cost which is composed of the turbine assembly, support structure, distribution/collector wiring and control system. The actual generator represents a fraction of that fraction of total cost.
In the same way and in an even more accentuated way, it would be necessary to imagine the feasibility (of which the calculation of frictions) and the costs of intermediate stations, pulleys and all the infrastructure, and the elements that are linked to the compensation of the phase shift (different reel-in and reel-out phases according to AWES) to connect to the single large generator.
Finally, to calculate costs we would need to know if a system like this would work in a real world. It is therefore up to the designer to do all this work and validate the installation, before integrating it into the
Economical assessment of the scalability of the ground station in pumping mode.
On another subject: it seems that Advanced Kite Networks is about a description of a crosswind kite network, but the given elements do not allow to have a clear idea of how the Power Take Off (PTO) occurs.