Floating turbine towers above — the S1500 hovers to harvest wind at 131 feet

2026-02-24 21:42 UTC

The S1500 floating turbine’s operating altitude is 4,921 feet above ground level, where wind speed moves about three times faster than at the surface. The advantage of this altitude (also referred to as vertical slice) can result in a power output up to 27 times higher than a conventional ground-based wind turbine of similar capacity. The capacity to generate one megawatt of electrical power (MW) with the S1500 system is comparable in size to what small wind power turbines normally generate (a conventional 328-foot-tall wind turbine), while the footprint of the S1500 system is significantly smaller. This amazing power density shows the efficiency benefits of being able to access high altitude wind power resources by new and innovative airborne platforms.

Replies (14)

@nucleative@lemmy.world 2026-02-25 00:28

The wind at 32,000 ft is 200 times stronger than the wind at the surface? Ummm… 10 knots * 200 = 2000 knots. I don’t think so lol. A lot of strange numbers in this article that bring its accuracy into question. No mention of the weight of a 1 and 1/2 km wire that is also suitable to anchor this thing in place. Or are they going to float batteries and bring them down to discharge?

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@mercano@lemmy.world 2026-02-24 22:26

How come the 131 foot altitude in the headline is never mentioned in the article? These turbine operates at 4,921 feet, a number that makes a lot more sense when you convert it to metric, 1.5 km. The article is littered with these odd imperial measurements that should have just been left as nice round metric numbers, or least re-rounded after conversion. 130 feet would have read better, but the original number was 40 m.

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@SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world 2026-02-24 22:53

I'd love to see the weight of a five thousand foot cable.

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@altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-02-25 03:57

Posting them around rich people's private airfields would improve their footprint even further.

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@RamRabbit@lemmy.world 2026-02-24 22:52

These are a massive liability *every* storm. You have to winch them down and get them into a blisteringly massive hangar that can hold them. Then get them set back up after. Every. Single. Storm. Furthermore, you don't save on land use, as you need the massive, expensive hangar for each right at their base. Ground-based wind-turbines just feather their blades and lock their gearbox. Very simple.

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@tleb@lemmy.ca 2026-02-24 22:02

Does it have batteries on board? How does it connect the power to the grid? O_o

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@stringere@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-25 15:38

- Operational altitude: 4,921 feet\ So precise - Weight: Under 2,204 pounds\ Um... so 2,203 pounds?

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@mechoman444@lemmy.world 2026-02-25 14:41

Is anyone else getting aeon flux vibs?

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@humanspiral@lemmy.ca 2026-02-25 22:43

This is an extremely promising innovation, and company plans on bigger designs already. But the total cost has to include an automated roof opening shelter for storms, that can open and close in medium winds before the high winds come. This makes the ground footprint higher than traditional turbines, even if agriculture can be done when there is no storm and roof is open. Perhaps 4 thethering strong cables could permit it to survive a cat 1 hurricane when hugging ground without a roof, but it is more weight to lift normally.

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@floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-02-24 23:41

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@murmelade@lemmy.ml 2026-02-24 22:02

Just throw a dart at it and wait for it to come down.

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@empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-02-24 22:15

If it's tethered, the tether can winch it down to ladder truck range. That or helicopter.

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@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2026-02-24 22:01

Unfortunately, I could not find a link to the manual.

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@5too@lemmy.world 2026-02-25 12:53

Playing with https://telecom.samm.com/cable-reel-calculator, it seems like you could probably fit a reel or two on a trailer? I seem to remember the current wind turbines need some specialized trucks for maintenance too, this doesn't seem like it's need much more - but I'm not an engineer!

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