The 30kW version of the MIT-spinoff’s Buoyant Airborne Turbine (Bat), an open-centred blimp housing a three-bladed rotor, will be tethered some  300 metres in the air at a site near Fairbanks, as part of $1.3m testing project backed by the Alaska Energy Authority’s Emerging Energy Technology Fund.

The 18.3-metre diameter Bat will be tested over the next 18 months to demonstrate full power production and autonomous operations – including deploying and reeling in the helium-filled device.

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