Ampyx Power
 | |
| Company type | B.V. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Wind energy |
| Founded | September, 2008 |
| Founders | Bas Lansdorp, Dr. Richard Ruiterkamp |
| Headquarters | Hague, Netherlands |
Area served | Australia and Netherlands |
Number of employees | 40 |
| Website | https://www.ampyxpower.com |
Ampyx Power is an airborne wind energy company founded in 2008 by Bas Lansdorp and Richard Ruiterkamp. It was created after Lansdorp dropped his five-year-long studies of wind energy at Delft University of Technology to found Ampyx Power. In 2011, Lansdorp sold a majority of his Ampyx Power shares to fund his new project, Mars One.[1] Wubbo Ockels' interest in energy began when he let a kite line slip and it burned his hand. He became interested and started to study and research how this could be turned into electricity. At Delft University, he formed a team with Bas Lansdorp that worked on developing kites that could retrieve energy from the sky. Richard Ruiterkamp became the team leader and he created a fixed wing aircraft that allowed greater controllability and allowing the generation of more energy. In 2008 he founded the company with Bas Lansdorp.[2] Lansdorp worked on the business aspect, and Ruiterkamp was head of the science division. Currently, Ampyx Power has a team of 40 engineers. The current prototype is the AP3 Ampyx Power Airborne Wind Energy System (AWES). The system is a tethered aircraft that converts wind into electric energy. The aircraft is tethered to an on the ground generator. When the aircraft moves and flies, it reels the tether and powers the generator. The plane is then reeled in through the tether and then re-released into the air.[3]
History
Founding
Originally, the company was a team that former astronaut Wubbo Ockels formed at Delft University of Technology to investigate how heat, wind, and friction energy could be converted into electricity. The team consisted of several scientists, including team leader Richard Ruiterkamp and Wubbo Ockels. Bas Lansdorp later stepped in as a business manager. In 2008 Ampyx Power was founded by Bas Lansdorp and Richard Ruiterkamp. The company's original prototypes were tethered flexible membrane kites but then Ruiterkamp began to work on fixed wing aircraft. The company now consists of 50 employees and 40 engineers.[4]
AP0-AP3 Prototypes
Ampyx Power has proven its concept with three generations of prototypes (AP0 – AP2) constructed between 2009 and 2013 [5].
2009 - 2012: AP0 Prototypes
Ampyx Power shows that power production with a tethered aircraft is feasible with the first prototype AP0.
2012: AP1 Prototype - First Autonomous 1 Hour Flight
Ampyx Power reached a significant milestone in 2012 by showing fully autonomous power production for the first time. During a 50 minute flight, the possibility of autonomous operation was demonstrated. Many investors, such as EON, noticed the company at this point and started to take interest in Ampyx Power's take on wind power.
2015: AP3 Design Started
Ampyx Power starts the design of the last prototype AP3 [5]. The goal of AP3 is to prove scaling and robust continuous operation. Upon completion of AP3 the technology will have matured to a state that the commercial type can be defined. In december 2016 Orange Aircraft in Breda starts the production of AP3. The company has also commissioned an assessment of the ecological impact of the technology [6]. The technology was used as an example for a life cycle assessment of airborne wind energy [7].
April 2017: Ampyx Power and EON cooperation
On April 17 2017, Ampyx Power signs a cooperation agreement with German energy company EON. Under the contract EON and Ampyx Power collaborate to realise an AP3 and AP4 test site in Ireland. Following successful demonstration of AP3 and AP4 the companies continue with a first offshore test site and subsequently re-powering of early EON offshore projects to prolong the technical lifetime.
April 2018: Sea Air Farm research - Demonstrating the potential of far offshore floating wind farms
The cost of offshore wind power increases significantly with water depth, due to the increased costs of foundation works either bottom-fixed or floating. Due to its much smaller overturning moments, Ampyx Power’s system that generates electricity from wind using an aircraft flying 500m high, could be deployed on relatively small anchored floating platforms, allowing economical deployment of AWES in places where deployment of conventional offshore wind turbines is economically or technically impossible.
The research, called the ‘Sea-Air-Farm’ project, was performed by a consortium of Ampyx Power, ECN (Energy Research Centre Netherlands), Marin (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands) and Mocean Offshore. The consortium researched the offshore application of floating AWES and the possibilities and limitations of an entire airborne wind park with multiple systems, far-offshore and in deep waters. The project was carried out with subsidy of Topsector Energy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
ECN validated the aerodynamic tools, modelled installation and O&M scenarios, and calculated the yield and costs. Mocean Offshore designed the floating platform with its mooring and infield cables, which were tested in Marin’s test basin. Ampyx Power designed the conceptual aircraft and the entire offshore windfarm, studied the certification framework and managed the project.
The research indicates that a wind farm is technically possible and cost competitive. The figures are promising, given the fact that MW-scale AWES are still at the very early stages of their technological and commercial development, and significant further cost reductions can be expected in the future. A public summary was published in April 2018.
See also
References
- ^ "'It's not going to be Big Brother on Mars,' says Mars One co-founder". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
- ^ "History". Ampyx Power. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
- ^ "Technology – Ampyx Power". Ampyx Power. Retrieved 2017-03-22.
- ^ "Global Energy News March 2017". issuu. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
- ^ a b Ruiterkamp, Richard; Kruijff, Michiel (2018). "A Roadmap Towards Airborne Wind Energy in the Utility Sector". In Schmehl, Roland (ed.). Airborne Wind Energy. Green Energy and Technology. Singapore: Springer. pp. 643–662. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-1947-0_26.
- ^ Bruinzeel, Leo; Klop, Erik; Brenninkmeijer, Allix; Bosch, Jaap (2018). "Ecological Impact of Airborne Wind Energy Technology: Current State of Knowledge and Future Research Agenda". In Schmehl, Roland (ed.). Airborne Wind Energy. Green Energy and Technology. Singapore: Springer. pp. 679–701. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-1947-0_28.
- ^ Wilhelm, Stefan (2018). "Life Cycle Assessment of Electricity Production from Airborne Wind Energy". In Schmehl, Roland (ed.). Airborne Wind Energy. Green Energy and Technology. Singapore: Springer. pp. 727–750. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-1947-0_30.