Kite Power Systems has secured a £2m equity investment from the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB), the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, to help bring the company’s technology to commercial development.
SIB joins Eon, Schlumberger and Shell Technology Ventures in investing in Kite Power Systems.
The company’s technology features two kites that fly up to an altitude of about 460 metres and are attached by tethers to a winch system that generates electricity as it spools out.
The company’s latest 500kW demonstration model is being manufactured and assembled at Kellwood Engineering in Dumfries.
It has planning consent to deploy the demo unit, which is expected to be delivered in August.
The company said following testing the next step would be to deploy an array of multiple 500kW systems within the next three to four years in Scotland.
Kite Power will then develop and test a 3MW onshore system before deploying a similar sized model offshore.
Kite Power Systems relocated to Scotland from Essex earlier this year, establishing a research and test facility near Stranraer and a head office in Glasgow.
It has already built a team of 20, mainly engineers, and aims to grow to 34 by the end of 2017.
Kite Power Systems business development director David Ainsworth said: “This very welcome new investment from the SIB is an endorsement of the extensive R&D work the KPS team has carried out and is a further vote of confidence in our technology and our business.
“Along with the support of our other investors, this backing will accelerate KPS’s commercial development plans towards deploying lower cost, deep-water offshore wind energy on a global scale.”
Image: Kite Power
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