The vision

Makani started with the idea that kites might be able to harness enough wind energy to give more people around the world more access to renewable energy. By replacing the massive steel towers of conventional wind turbines with lightweight hardware and smart software, they hoped to unlock access to wind resources too expensive or impractical to access with traditional wind technologies. This unique insight sparked a 13 year-long adventure of designing, building, testing, and iterating, which culminated last year in the world’s first offshore flight of an airborne wind turbine.

Makani’s energy kite was incredibly unusual. It turned like an aerobatic glider and sent electricity down a tether. In its final incarnation it did all this autonomously from a floating platform anchored in deep water. To create this unique machine they had to solve hundreds of problems and push boundaries in aerodynamics, avionics, electric motors, and more.

While they were solving technical problems, the world around them was changing. Global use of electricity from renewable sources has been steadily rising and the cost of wind and solar has dropped dramatically. In fact, wind power is now one of the cheapest sources of electricity available. And while there’s still opportunity for innovation in floating offshore wind, the road to commercialization for Makani proved longer and riskier than they hoped. Makani weren’t able to secure the investment needed to take the innovation forward, so their time as a company has come to an end.

The Magni RTH 6.35 SH

This was the story of the Makani start-up which also involved an RTH 6.35 with various attachments (Platform, winch and forck carriage, included a special attachment designed and created for them). This is because Magni’s telehandler was the best solution to move the kite and suspend it at the top. It was a very heartfelt collaboration, first of all because Magni has always been devoted to seeking and supporting sustainable solutions and secondly because new ideas are the forge that feeds the passion of their R&D department.

The RTH 6.35 has several appearances in the documentary, in the California desert as well as Hawai’i. Makani’s filmmaker said that she “loves the Magni, it’s beautiful!” so she had included it in the film where she could.

“The machine saved us on so many occasions, with its flexibility to set up in tight spaces and ability to be used as an easy-to-operate light crane, as well as an additional manlift on demand. We definitely would have missed some flight opportunities if we didn’t have it.”

This is the precious testimony of Mr. Sue who coordinated the project and despite the project had being suspended due to lack of funds, Magni Telescopic Handlers are proud to have taken part in the realization of a dream for several years, because these young engineers have chased their hopes of being able to create something cleaner to help the whole world with a kite.

And this is what counts to put your heart and a lot of passion in your daily work.
Below is the full-length documentary:

View the Magni RTH 6.35 here

For more information:
Jurgen Vater, CEO at Kranlyft Group
+46 703 343 053 | jurgen.vater@kranlyft.com