We compare the available wind resources for conventional wind turbines and for airborne wind energy systems. Accessing higher altitudes and continuously adjusting the harvesting operation to the wind resource substantially increases the potential energy yield. The study is based on the ERA5 reanalysis data which covers a period of 7 years with hourly estimates at a surface resolution of 31 × 31 km and a vertical resolution of 137 barometric altitude levels. We present detailed wind statistics for a location in the English Channel and then expand the analysis to a surface grid of Western and Central Europe with a resolution of 110 × 110 km. Over the land mass and coastal areas of Europe we find that compared to a fixed harvesting height at the approximate hub height of wind turbines, the wind power density which is available for 95% of the time increases by a factor of two.

Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) have different power generation characteristics than conventional wind turbines, which can not be accurately captured in the traditional power curve. One important aspect is that it can harvest wind energy in a much wider range of altitudes than conventional wind turbines. Theoretically also High Altitude Winds (HAW) can be harnessed and the systems can be placed at a larger variety of sites.