Wind energy is proportional to the cube of wind speed (p = 0.5ρv^3;, ρ-air density, v-wind speed) - when the wind speed increases by 1 time, the wind energy increases by 8 times (standard air density is 1.225kg /m, the air density at an altitude of 6000 meters is about 0.644 kg/m, which is only reduced by about 1 time), so the wind energy at high altitude can be several times, ten times, dozens or even hundreds of times higher than that on the ground.
High-altitude winds are constant and stable all year round. Within a few kilometers of the ground, the higher the ground, the stronger the wind and the more stable it is. Therefore, collecting high-altitude wind energy can produce wind power with high stability and low power generation cost. This is one of the distinctive features of high-altitude wind power and one of the most significant advantages of high-altitude wind power compared with conventional wind power.
As ground-tower wind power has faced difficulties in accommodation and high wind abandonment rates in recent years, people have realized that a major advantage of high-altitude wind energy is that high-altitude wind power can be built in efficient areas of power-consuming cities. The power station makes the power transmission and distribution distance very close; on the other hand, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong regions, the areas with the richest high-altitude wind energy in China, happen to be the areas with the highest electricity load in China and can be consumed nearby. This characteristic of high-altitude wind energy solves the problem caused by the increasing proportion of wind power generation in electricity consumption.
Theoretically, the power generated by a high-altitude wind turbine that generates electricity on the ground can be comparable to that of a thermal power unit. However, due to the material of the wind turbine blades and the strength of the tower, the maximum capacity of a single unit of tower wind power is currently limited. It is basically impossible to be larger than 20MW. High-altitude wind power generation is based on kite flying and the series connection of multiple kites. In theory, it can be like a train, carrying up to hundreds of carriages to obtain very large shaft power when the power of a single kite is not large, thereby reducing costs.