'It's not science fiction': The moonshot effort to supersize solar and wind

Kyle Bakx · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Soaring request for energy is starring immoderate companies to not lone deliberation retired of the container for a solution, but retired of this world, too.

Researchers are looking to supersize the accumulation of upwind and star power. Several startups and tiny companies person an oculus connected revolutionizing the sector, specified arsenic gathering the largest craft successful the satellite to transport overmuch larger upwind turbines and constructing a star array successful abstraction to beam energy down to Earth.

The ideas look similar moonshots, but there's a anticipation of them some taking disconnected off wrong the adjacent 5 years.

Jumbo jet

One of the challenges for developers of upwind farms is the logistics of moving the lengthy turbine blades to agrarian areas by motortruck oregon rail. For Colorado-based Radia, the solution is to make a specialty jumbo craft with the quality to transportation a azygous turbine blade that could beryllium astir 50 per cent longer than those presently utilized astatine upwind farms.

For the past 8 years, Radia has worked to plan and make the WindRunner aircraft, which would beryllium astir 40 per cent longer than a Boeing 747 jet, said laminitis Mark Lundstrom.

"In the aircraft, there's nary caller technology. We've designed the craft astir the things that are already flying," helium said, successful an interrogation with CBC News successful Houston during the CERAWeek vigor league past week.

WATCH | 'It has a gigantic wing': 

Besides the size of the aircraft, the planes besides request the quality to onshore connected gravel runways constructed successful agrarian locations wherever the upwind farms volition beryllium built.

Typically, turbine blades installed connected onshore are astir 70 metres successful length, nevertheless those deployed offshore measurement implicit 100 metres long. Radia's craft would beryllium capable to transport the longer blades to caller upwind farms developed connected land.

"With the bigger turbines, they run astatine a overmuch little upwind speed. And truthful that enables you to treble oregon triple the acreage successful the satellite wherever upwind is economically viable," said Lundstrom. 

"You're going to treble the capableness of that turbine, you're going to trim the outgo of the electrons by astir a 3rd and you're besides going to summation the utilization of the turbine by astir 20 per cent."

Radia is considered a unicorn startup arsenic it's valued astatine much than $1 cardinal US, according to PitchBook. Employees and advisers see executives at Boeing, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and renewable vigor companies. 

Radia has announced respective partnerships with assorted aerospace companies to make antithetic aspects of the craft specified arsenic the fuselage and wing. Lundstrom hopes to statesman the manufacturing signifier aboriginal this twelvemonth and said Radia has begun accepting orders for transportation of cargo.

North American energy depletion is soaring, successful portion owed to population growth, the electrification of manufacture and the emergence of information centres.

Solar satellite 

While Radia aims for takeoff by the extremity of this decade, Space Solar has a akin timeline for blast-off.

The U.K.-based steadfast is engineering however to physique a star array successful orbit (using robots for assembly, nary less). In this wireless age, the energy would beryllium beamed via high-frequency vigor waves to communities astir the globe.

"The prima ever shines successful space," said co-CEO Sam Adlen successful an interrogation successful Houston astatine CERAWeek.

The full premise seems far-fetched and out-of-this-world, but if successful, the effect could beryllium abundant, reliable, low-carbon vigor and disposable to the astir distant communities successful the world.

It's the eventual cleanable energy, described Adlen.

"Being capable to transmit vigor from abstraction tin beryllium truly important for the future," helium said. "It's not subject fiction. All of the physics is wholly understood."

WATCH | The obstacles up to statesman powering Earth from space: 

The conception has been astir for decades, including a 1970s NASA method feasibility survey astir space-based star power.

The thought has lone present go economically imaginable arsenic the outgo of launching instrumentality into abstraction has fallen dramatically implicit the past decade, said Adlen.

Last year, Space Solar signed a woody with Iceland's Reykjavik Energy to physique the world's archetypal operational abstraction star powerfulness works and present 30 megawatts of electricity. Space Solar has besides partnered with Transition Labs, an Iceland-based private-sector enactment focused connected supporting clime technologies.

In 2023, the U.K. authorities announced £4.3 million in funding for universities and tech companies to develop space-based star power.

LISTEN | U.S. pushes for vigor dominance: 

Several different startups and assemblage probe teams are besides pursuing solar-based powerfulness plants utilizing antithetic techniques.

Both Radia and Space Solar inactive person challenges up to show their exertion functions arsenic promised astatine the close price, portion besides receiving each the indispensable approvals from regulators.

These projects besides volition person to flooded the contented of assemblage opposition

Larger blades installed to taller towers makes economical sense, but could besides beryllium disposable to much people.

The biggest question people is the societal licence and societal acceptability," said Jesse Jenkins, a prof astatine Princeton University who did a survey for Radia arsenic a consultant, successful an interrogation with the Wall Street Journal.

Power plants successful abstraction utilizing vigor waves, whitethorn look akin pushback from communities.

"We've seen however 5G tin origin problems, truthful really that needs to beryllium managed precise carefully," said Adlen, referring to the cognition immoderate person that the exertion is dangerous, though determination is nary grounds of this.

Over the past decades, the star and upwind industries person expanded passim North America arsenic costs person fallen and the exertion becomes much businesslike with each passing year.

Now, if successful, these firms and different companies anticipation to reimagine upwind and star powerfulness with their space-age and high-flying ideas implicit the years to come.