Underwater kites for energy production

(Worcester Polytechnic Institute, November 05, 2013)

A new research program directed by David Olinger, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to explore ways to harness ocean currents and tidal flows using this unexpected technology. Olinger's new research builds on earlier work, in which he developed low-cost kite systems that use the wind to generate electricity or power simple devices like water pumps. Olinger says he expects underwater kites to have important advantages over stationary marine turbines, which have been used on a limited scale in Europe, Asia, and North America to generate power from tides: "The generators can be smaller, and they will be substantially less expensive to install and easier to retrieve for maintenance."