Google(NASDAQ: GOOG), through its Google X new technology investment division, has just invested in another energy start-up company, this time in Makani Power, a manufacturer of flying wind turbines.
Only a week ago Makani Power, based in California, conducted its first ever autonomous test flight of the Wing 7 prototype, a self-flying airborne turbine, and now it has released a statement on its website that Google, already an investor, will be buying the company.
Makani claims that its product will produce the same power output as a conventional wind turbine, but at half the cost, and using 90% fewer materials to build. The turbines fly around in giant loops on a kite-like device, and are able to take advantage of the stronger, more consistent winds that exist at high altitude.
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Makani believes that its technology would be most effective offshore, where there is huge potential for wind energy, and where it would prove more productive, and far cheaper than current offshore technology.
Makani wrote in a statement on its website that the deal "formalises a long and productive relationship between our two companies, and will provide Makani with the resources to accelerate our work to make wind energy cost competitive with fossil fuels."
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More