Recently, AirLoom Energy, a start-up company from Wyoming, USA, received a US$4 million in financing to promote its first

“track and wings” power generation technology.

The device is structurally composed of brackets, tracks and wings. As can be seen from the picture below,the length of the

bracket is about 25 meters. The track is near the top of the bracket. The 10-meter-long wings are installed on the track.

They slide along the track under the influence of wind and generate electricity through the power generation device.

This technology has six major advantages -

Static investment is as low as US$0.21/watt, which is one-quarter of that of general wind power;

The levelized cost of electricity is as low as US$0.013/kWh, which is one-third of that of general wind power;

The form is flexible and can be made into a vertical axis or a horizontal axis according to needs, and is feasible both on land and at sea;

Convenient transportation, a set of 2.5MW equipment only requires a conventional container truck;

The height is very low and does not affect the distant view, especially when used at sea;

The materials and structures are conventional and easy to manufacture.

The company hired former Google executive Neal Rickner, who led the development of the Makani power-generating

kite, as CEO.

AirLoom Energy stated that this US$4 million in funds will be used to develop the first 50kW prototype, and hopes that

after the technology matures, it can eventually be applied to large-scale power generation projects in the hundreds of megawatts.

It is worth mentioning that this financing came from a venture capital institution called “Breakthrough Energy Ventures”,

whose founder is Bill Gates. The person in charge of the organization said that this system solves the problems of traditional

wind power foundations and towers such as high cost, large floor area, and difficult transportation, and greatly reduces costs.