Madrid, 23 April 2026 — One day after the large-scale AWE kite exhibition at the IFEMA metro entrance, which captured the attention of attendees and passers-by, Airborne Wind Energy returned to the spotlight at the WindEurope Annual Event with a dedicated roundtable bringing together inspiring voices from across the sector.
The session was moderated by Kristian Petrick, Secretary General of Airborne Wind Europe, who opened the discussion by framing the role of AWE within Europe’s wind energy future and setting the scene for the exchange between research, industry, and policy.
Researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and CT Ingenieros, Gabriel Brondel, Carolina Nicolás-Martín and Jorge González-García, then shared their joint work on a fully Spanish-developed AWE system.
In simple terms, they showed how the technology is already moving from theory to reality: a system that can generate electricity, supported by smart control and testing methods to ensure it works reliably. Most importantly, they presented real flight tests confirming that the system operates safely and consistently.
The roundtable concluded with insights from WindEurope’s senior policy advisor, Amaury Fraenkel, who brought the discussion back to the European policy level. As he noted: “We need new ideas in wind, and AWE is part of the solution, with strong potential and clear European added value.”
He also highlighted that WindEurope is actively contributing to the MFF 2028–2034, stressing the need for “money for scaling up this technology” and to “decrease the amount of fences” that still limit innovation. Instruments such as the European Competitiveness Fund, particularly under the Clean Transition pillar, were identified as key to bridging research and industrial deployment.
The session gathered a strong group of attendees from across the ecosystem, including Ignacio Cruz (CIEMAT), David Santos (UC3M), and Filippo Trevisi (Politecnico di Milano), reflecting the growing interest and collaboration around the airborne wind energy field.
With momentum building, from public visibility to real-world validation and policy alignment, AWE is steadily positioning itself as a scalable and complementary solution within Europe’s wind energy future.