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Altaeros Energies takes wind energy to a higher plane

By Chloe Tse, March 28, 2014 at 7:09 pm

It’s a bird, it’s a plane — wait, it’s a clean energy blimp here to help communities and industries off the grid!

Wind energy company Altaeros Energies is taking their Alaska demonstration project sky high as it attempts to break a world record for the highest wind turbine ever deployed, according to the press release.

This wind energy company that came out of MIT has designed a wind turbine inside a floating blimp (the Buoyant Airborne Turbine) that’s set to rise 1,000 feet up into the air as it provides energy for the ground below.

What is the Buoyant Airborne Turbine Project all about?

Financed in part by the Alaska Energy Authority’s Emerging Energy Technology fund, this eighteen-month project costing $1.3 million has an objective of deploying this floating blimp with a mission to both break world records and provide electricity for remote communities, industries and disaster relief.

Complete with a three-blade-rotor spinning inside, this blimp with a wind turbine inside is a 60-foot-diameter helium aerostat developed by the Massachusetts-based company Altaeros, according to Co.Exist.

“Altaeros recently announced a $1.3 million demonstration project in Alaska that will supply power to about a dozen homes,” reports Co.Exist, “It’s also working on deals for remote sites in Australia and Canada, and the company has investment from a group controlled by Ratan Tata, the famed Indian industrialist.”

Basically, this pilot project will demonstrate Altaeros ability to generate low cost energy for the $17 billion remote power and microgrid market — serving folks who are in remote or island areas. This kind of technology will benefit businesses and situations of the oil & gas, mining, agriculture, telecommunication firms, disaster relief organizations and military bases, according to the press release.