About Task 48
Task 48 provides a platform for the open exchange of ideas, experience, and techniques of Airborne Wind Energy systems.
Started in 2021, Task 48 aims to build a strong community that works together to identify and mitigate the barriers to the development and deployment of Airborne Wind Energy systems. We provide a structured forum for international collaborations between researchers, supply chains, and users to exchange needs, ideas, and experiences.
The Task focuses on producing tangible results such as recommended practices that can be used by researchers and practitioners. And, we work in collaboration with other IEA Wind Tasks to help make sure that R&D is aligned with users’ needs.
Task 48 has started into its second 4-year term in October 2025
The task will continue for a further four years from October 2025, reflecting the ongoing relevance of Airborne Wind Energy in the global wind energy research and development landscape.
Scope
The scope of the 2nd term of Task 48 remains on Airborne Wind Energy and key related aspects.
IEA Wind TCP member governments establish national targets for renewable energy and wind energy, design market mechanisms and energy policies, and fund research and development (R&D) programs to help reach these targets. In addition to national wind energy development and deployment efforts.
Within this framework, Task 48 on Airborne Wind Energy has become a strong platform, covering the whole AWE sector (industry & research) as well as related stakeholders – through collaborations with a number of other IEA Wind TCP Tasks and further activities.
AWE has the potential to significantly contribute to the future energy system, in order to reach the global climate targets of the Paris Agreement, being a complementary renewable energy technology by harvesting the wind in high altitudes. So far, individual units of a few hundred kW have been demonstrated.
Energy costs are already competitive to fossil resources within certain setups, further price reductions are forthcoming with the ongoing supply chain development and economies of scale effects, once serial production is established.
Recent achievements allow already today going towards manufacturing and further deploying AWE in various places, such as islands and remote areas but also towards utility-scale AWE farms.
To realize these steps, the Task 48 partners combine expertise on AWE and other renewable technologies, meteorology and fluid dynamics, torque-to-electricity, grid balancing, energy pricing and business experience, material developers etc.
How does AWE work?
There are two phases:
– Power phase: The kite flies cross-wind in figures of eight, reeling-out the tether which turns drum to which the generator – located in the ground station – is connected. Power is generated.
– Retraction phase: The tether is reeled-in again and the kite dives down back to the starting position. This requires about 20% of the energy produced in the power phase.
Ground-Gen pumping
Fly-Gen
Ground-Gen rotary
Objectives & Expected Results
The objective of the Task 48 on AWE continues to be to address various of the specific challenges on a global level by addressing and including stakeholders who are not primarily AWE developers, i.e., policymakers, authorities, regulators and other wind energy and technology experts.
A key benefit of the IEA Task on AWE has been that it has opened up the scope of collaboration on a global level; it has helped foster a truly international exchange of expertise, produce and gather new data and information, allow for joint learning, as well as accelerate the development of AWE technology and thus its impact on the international energy sector.
AWE stakeholders continue to be able benefit from the experience and established networks within IEA Wind while also providing new insights and technological expertise to them.
Expected results are:
- Enhanced international collaboration and coordination in the field of AWE. Following the integration work in IEA, IRENA, and other international networks, to leverage the work being done in the Task 48 on AWE.
- National case studies on the proposed 4 focus areas (work packages, WPs). Collaborative journal articles summarising and further analysing the work in national case studies.
- Updated library of Task publications and list of relevant studies and other publications
- Open-source dynamic models, with corresponding documentation and training opportunities, for common use in AWE research and development.
Strategic Objectives
Maximize the value of wind energy in energy systems and markets: Focus RD&D advances and sharing of best practices on integrating wind power into energy systems and markets, and adapting those systems and markets for future very large inputs of variable renewable electricity, to improve the economic, technological, and societal value of wind energy, while enhancing security of supply.
Task 48 aims to prepare and support the AWE sector for fast deployment by safeguarding system stability and ensuring that AWE systems provide additional benefits for the system, supply chains and society.
Strengthen the competitiveness of land-based and offshore wind energy: Support innovative research at all scales and for all technology types, including disruptive
technologies, to continue to improve the economic performance of wind energy projects in both mature and emerging markets. Address technology, market, and information needs to maximize the potential for wind energy to remain the overall most competitive energy by 2050.
“Disruptive technologies” are mentioned: AWE could be considered one of these technologies, although the sector sees it rather as “complementary technology”. It may be disruptive at one point in time but as of today it is too early to claim that.
Facilitate wind energy deployment through social acceptance, energy equity, and environmental justice: Refine collaborative communication and technological tools to enhance the social support for, and just environmental compatibility of wind energy projects, facilitating accelerated wind energy deployment to curb global climate change. Support sociological and environmental research to inform the sustainable deployment of wind energy in both distributed and utility-scale wind energy systems.
As in the first term, there will be a dedicated WP on social acceptance for AWE technology. The topic is taken very serious by the sector. The objective is to make sure that this innovative technology is deployed in a way which builds on best-practices regarding social acceptance and lowest environmental impacts.
Foster collaborative research and the exchange of best practices and data: Support international collaboration and communication among experts in all aspects of
wind energy to promote standardization, digitalization and accelerate the pace of technology development and deployment by exchanging best practices, benchmark models and data, including dissemination of Wind TCP outputs to other TCPs.
The first term of Task 48 has been a great example of collaboration, leading to new projects (like DEM-AWE, AWETRAIN, etc.). The objective is to continue this successful platform in future.
AWE status and achievements of Task 48
Task 48 has been a crucial and very valuable platform for the AWE sector. Successes are for instance:
- IEA Wind TCP Task 48 has been established as the platform for international exchange of AWE stakeholders
- Diverse collaborations, also towards funded EU and national research projects (Horizon/ Interreg, etc.) have been developed under this umbrella: Horizon MERIODIONAL; Horizon Europe: JustWind4All; Horizon Europe: AWETRAIN and Interreg NWE: DEM-AWE
- Over 50 scientific papers per year were published through or with support of Task 48
- Regular Work Package meetings allowed for presenting latest research & development results of universities and companies as well as for inviting new stakeholders to evaluate potential collaboration, given the open exchange
- Whitepaper “Safe Operation and Airspace Integration of AWE Systems” acts now as basis for implementing AWE in a regulatory frameworks worldwide
Status of the Airborne Wind Energy sector and the need for Task 48
The value proposition of Airborne wind energy remains valid: AWE has the potential to give access to stronger and more stable high-altitude wind resources, including in remote areas and floating offshore, and thus play an important part in the future energy mix. It also reduces material consumption which leads – in combination with a higher capacity factor – to potentially very low LCOEs and lower carbon and environmental impacts. Furthermore, it may be modified to provide propulsion and power for the maritime shipping sector.
The AWE sector is moving towards commercialization, the outputs of Task 48 will have to focus even more tangible benefits for the industry, i.e. going beyond research studies and bringing theoretical findings into practise. There are currently over 60 organisations working on AWE, thereof about a dozen technology developers and the others being academia, research institutions and suppliers. The strong industrial participation is a key success of Task 48, and the supporting research in universities supports the education and training of potential future employees.
Many topics addressed by Task 48 over the first term continue to be relevant, new ones are coming up: There are still many challenges to be solved or investigated concerning AWE safety standards and technical guidelines, resource and deployment potentials, markets, engineering issues, environmental impacts and social acceptance, regulatory as well as financial and policy challenges. Moreover, the imminent industrialisation of the AWE sector requires a new focus on manufacturing and mass production.
Therefore, there is the continued need for unbiased, independent, high-quality information for industry, academia and policy makers which the Task 48 can deliver.
Work Packages
The Task on AWE will provide an international forum for interchanging knowledge and experiences and for collaboration related to Airborne Wind Energy.
The basis of the work are the national and regional projects on AWE by the participants. The participants will collect and share information on the experience gained in studies and projects made prior to and during the task. International collaborations with contacts and opportunities for visiting scientists will be encouraged.
The WPs will be managed by the WP Leaders as more or less independent working groups. However, the WPs and the OA will ensure that knowledge between WPs is exchanged, either through joint meetings, newsletters, the website, webinars, conference or other means of communication.
The overarching questions that the Task aims to answer are:
- Where to deploy AWE?
- How to ramp-up AWE production both quickly and cost-effectively?
- How to improve Airborne Wind Energy’s efficiency and reliability and how to measure it?
- How to deploy AWE safely and efficiently?
- How to deploy AWE with high social acceptance and low environmental impacts?
Operating Agents
Please contact the Operating Agents below with any questions
Kristian Petrick, Secretary General of Airborne Wind Europe
The Operating Agents are the executive body for Task 48. The tasks and responsibilities of the Operating Agents are:
- Act as the single point of contact of the task with the IEA.
- Decisions for workshops topics and nomination of workshop leaders.
- Organization of the general meetings and Advisory Board meetings, chairing the meetings, preparing the minutes of the Advisory Board meetings.
- Organization of the workshops in collaboration with the workshop leaders.
- Collecting, reviewing and submitting information on the progress of the task, reports and financial statements to the IEA.
- Compilation of the annual progress and of the contribution to the Annual IEA Wind Report.
- Dissemination, e.g. through the newsletter and homepage.
Task 48 is managed by Airborne Wind Europe – the association of the European AWE industry.
Participation
Task 48 Participants
Who can participate in Task 48?
To participate in the research activities of Task 48, researchers must reside in a country that participates in the IEA Wind Agreement AND has agreed by official letter to participate in Task 48. The participating member country of the IEA Wind TCP must designate a lead institution that agrees to the obligations of Task participation (pay the annual fee and agree to perform specified parts of the work plan).
Active researchers (performing part of the work plan) benefit from meetings and professional exchange during the term of the Task. In the particular case of IEA Task 48 the measurement results will, where possible, be shared into the consortium so that partners get first hand information from unique new data. Countries participating in the Task benefit from the information developed by the Task. The value of the research performed is many times the cost of the country participation fee or the labor contributed to carrying out the work plan.
For more information, contact the Operating Agents, Kristian Petrick or the IEA Wind Secretariat.
Find us here
For more information about Airborne Wind Europe please visit www.airbornewindeurope.org or contact us at the address below.
Any Question at
Tel: +32 27 39 62 12
Airborne Wind Europe
Avenue de la Renaissance 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Send your mail at
kristian.petrick@airbornewindeurope.org
thoms@airbornewindeurope.org