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85-420: Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding , surfing , windsurfing , skateboarding , snowboarding , and wakeboarding . Kiteboarding is among the less expensive and more convenient sailing sports. After some concepts and designs that emerged in

170-490: A CAGR of almost 9% from 2017. International kiteboarding has several promoting organizations and has undergone many changes in the governance of the sport, including long-lasting disputes between several of those entities, trying to negate each other the right to promote sporting events. The significance of the associated economic activity could explain part of such turbulence, but the intense rate of innovation and of adoption made it difficult to conceive, regulate and formalize

255-418: A nacelle on top of a tall tubular tower. In a wind farm, individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage (often 34.5 kV) power collection system and communications network. In general, a distance of 7D (7 times the rotor diameter of the wind turbine) is set between each turbine in a fully developed wind farm. At a substation, this medium-voltage electric current is increased in voltage with

340-620: A transformer for connection to the high voltage electric power transmission system. Most modern turbines use variable speed generators combined with either a partial or full-scale power converter between the turbine generator and the collector system, which generally have more desirable properties for grid interconnection and have low voltage ride through -capabilities. Modern turbines use either doubly fed electric machines with partial-scale converters or squirrel-cage induction generators or synchronous generators (both permanently and electrically excited) with full-scale converters. Black start

425-476: A wakeboard , kiting in waves using small surfboards with or without footstraps or bindings, foiling, and speed kiting. Land kiting needs a short and light mountain board , feet steered buggies, rollerskates, or sand boards for sand kiteboarding, which is also referred to as "sand kiting". It is a great cross-training for kitesurfing as many of the mechanisms for kite control transfer to water use. Skis or snowboards are used on snow for snowkiting . In 2012,

510-576: A 35-liter backpack . The previous longest recorded kite journey was by Eric Gramond who completed a 13-day trip of 1450 km along the coast of Brazil. Constantin Bisanz, a 41-year-old Austrian, crossed a 80 km (50 mi) stretch of the Bering Strait , embarking from Wales, Alaska, US on 12 August 2011 at 04:00, and arriving in easternmost Russia two hours later, after which he returned by boat to Alaska. It occurred after 2 previously failed attempts,

595-546: A 50.57 knots run. Similar speeds have been reached in the same location by windsurfers Anders Bringdal and Antoine Albeau, respectively 50.46 and 50.59 knots. These speeds are verified, but are still subject to ratification by the World Sailing Speed Record Council . Earlier in the event, on 19 September, American Rob Douglas reached 49.84 knots (92.30 km/h), becoming the first kitesurfer to establish an outright world record in speed sailing. Previously

680-424: A 75 kg (165 lb) rider. Cross-shore and cross-onshore winds are the best for unassisted kiteboarding. Direct onshore winds carry the risk of being thrown onto land or stuck in shallows. Direct offshore winds pose the danger of being blown away from the shore in the event of equipment failure or loss of control. However offshore winds can be quite suitable in confined waters, like in a lake or estuary, or when

765-418: A ball-socket swivel allowing the pilot to sail upwind and uphill but also to take off into the air at will. Strasilla and his Swiss friend Andrea Kuhn also used this invention in combination with surfboards and snowboards, grasskies, and self-made buggies. One of his patents describes in 1979 the first use of an inflatable kite design for kitesurfing. Two brothers, Bruno Legaignoux and Dominique Legaignoux, from

850-469: A bar-mounted combined winch/brake. The KiteSki was commercially available in 1994. The kite had a rudimentary water launch capability and could go upwind. In 1995, Cory Roeseler visited Peter Lynn at New Zealand's Lake Clearwater in the Ashburton Alpine Lakes area, demonstrating the speed, balance, and upwind angle on his 'ski'. In the late 1990s, Cory's ski evolved into a single board similar to

935-525: A factor of 2.1544 increases the wind power by one order of magnitude (multiply by 10). The global wind kinetic energy averaged approximately 1.50 MJ/m over the period from 1979 to 2010, 1.31 MJ/m in the Northern Hemisphere with 1.70 MJ/m in the Southern Hemisphere. The atmosphere acts as a thermal engine, absorbing heat at higher temperatures, releasing heat at lower temperatures. The process

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1020-456: A global assessment of wind power potential. Unlike 'static' wind resource atlases which average estimates of wind speed and power density across multiple years, tools such as Renewables.ninja provide time-varying simulations of wind speed and power output from different wind turbine models at an hourly resolution. More detailed, site-specific assessments of wind resource potential can be obtained from specialist commercial providers, and many of

1105-514: A grid system. Intermittency and the non- dispatchable nature of wind energy production can raise costs for regulation, incremental operating reserve , and (at high penetration levels) could require an increase in the already existing energy demand management , load shedding , storage solutions, or system interconnection with HVDC cables. Fluctuations in load and allowance for the failure of large fossil-fuel generating units require operating reserve capacity, which can be increased to compensate for

1190-407: A new Guinness World Record on January 22, 2023 (72 feet and four inches (22.04 meters)). Louis Tapper completed the longest recorded solo kite journey, completing 2000 km between Salvador and Sao Luis, Brazil . The journey was completed between July/August 2010 and took over 24 days of kitesurfing. This trip is also the longest solo journey, completed without a support crew, using one kite and

1275-443: A parachute type tied to his harness on a trapeze-type belt. This patent did not result in any commercial interest. Through the 1980s, there were occasionally successful attempts to combine kites with canoes, ice skates , snow skis, water skis and roller skates . Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dieter Strasilla from Germany developed parachute-skiing and later perfected a kite-skiing system using self-made paragliders and

1360-479: A power system that has the potential to meet power supply needs reliably. Integrating ever-higher levels of renewables is being successfully demonstrated in the real world. Solar power tends to be complementary to wind. On daily to weekly timescales, high-pressure areas tend to bring clear skies and low surface winds, whereas low-pressure areas tend to be windier and cloudier. On seasonal timescales, solar energy peaks in summer, whereas in many areas wind energy

1445-405: A probability distribution function is often fit to the observed wind speed data. Different locations will have different wind speed distributions. The Weibull model closely mirrors the actual distribution of hourly/ten-minute wind speeds at many locations. The Weibull factor is often close to 2 and therefore a Rayleigh distribution can be used as a less accurate, but simpler model. A wind farm

1530-399: A reliable supply of electricity. Land-based (onshore) wind farms have a greater visual impact on the landscape than most other power stations per energy produced. Wind farms sited offshore have less visual impact and have higher capacity factors , although they are generally more expensive. Offshore wind power currently has a share of about 10% of new installations. Wind power is one of

1615-477: A safety boat is assisting. The kiter must maintain a clear perception of the wind direction but also of the wind speed. The Beaufort scale is of great assistance in helping users assess the situation. A range of wind up to 33 knots covers the conditions for a safe practice for an experienced rider. A less experienced one should avoid riding with more than 15 knots. Most twintip boards and inflatable kites would be barely rideable below 11 knots, therefore for most cases

1700-691: A surfboard. The development of modern-day kitesurfing by the Roeselers in the United States and the Legaignoux in France was carried on in parallel with that of buggying . In 1996, Laird Hamilton and Manu Bertin were instrumental in demonstrating and popularising kitesurfing off the coast of Maui , while, in Florida, Raphaël Baruch changed the name of the sport from flysurfing to kitesurfing by starting and promoting

1785-530: A system fault. Offshore wind power is wind farms in large bodies of water, usually the sea. These installations can use the more frequent and powerful winds that are available in these locations and have less visual impact on the landscape than land-based projects. However, the construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher. As of November 2021, the Hornsea Wind Farm in the United Kingdom

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1870-413: A user should focus on the winds classified as moderate up to strong. Even if there is no wind blowing, a kiter can act on the kite lines and force it to move, and then, like with a row, it generates some force resulting from the incidence of the air into the kite's surface. In a gentle breeze, if the user action increases the air speed around the kite 10 times, the generated force increases 100 times, since

1955-698: A wider wind range than C-kites (traditional LEI kites), so two kite sizes (7 and 12 square metres (75 and 129 sq ft)) could form an effective quiver for winds ranging from 10 to 30 knots for a 75-kilogram (165 lb) rider. This makes bow kites more suitable for beginners to kite sports; however, they are also used by professionals. Bow kites are used in a variety of kite-related sports, including kiteboarding and snowkiting . Because of their depower range, they allow users to combat problems caused by gusts, making them safer to use. They are also used by kite surfers for wave riding, as their unique shape lends itself to this discipline. While early bow kites allowed

2040-420: Is a group of wind turbines in the same location. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines distributed over an extended area. The land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other purposes. A wind farm may also be located offshore. Almost all large wind turbines have the same design — a horizontal axis wind turbine having an upwind rotor with 3 blades, attached to

2125-470: Is air movement in the Earth's atmosphere. In a unit of time, say 1 second, the volume of air that had passed an area A {\displaystyle A} is A v {\displaystyle Av} . If the air density is ρ {\displaystyle \rho } , the mass of this volume of air is M = ρ A v {\displaystyle M=\rho Av} , and

2210-563: Is generated almost completely with wind turbines , generally grouped into wind farms and connected to the electrical grid . In 2022, wind supplied over 2,304 TWh of electricity, which was 7.8% of world electricity. With about 100 GW added during 2021, mostly in China and the United States , global installed wind power capacity exceeded 800 GW. 32 countries generated more than a tenth of their electricity from wind power in 2023 and wind generation has nearly tripled since 2015. To help meet

2295-480: Is lower in summer and higher in winter. Thus the seasonal variation of wind and solar power tend to cancel each other somewhat. Wind hybrid power systems are becoming more popular. For any particular generator, there is an 80% chance that wind output will change less than 10% in an hour and a 40% chance that it will change 10% or more in 5 hours. In summer 2021, wind power in the United Kingdom fell due to

2380-412: Is possible and is being further developed for places (such as Iowa ) which generate most of their electricity from wind. Transmission system operators will supply a wind farm developer with a grid code to specify the requirements for interconnection to the transmission grid. This will include the power factor , the constancy of frequency , and the dynamic behaviour of the wind farm turbines during

2465-526: Is responsible for the production of wind kinetic energy at a rate of 2.46 W/m thus sustaining the circulation of the atmosphere against friction. Through wind resource assessment , it is possible to estimate wind power potential globally, by country or region, or for a specific site. The Global Wind Atlas provided by the Technical University of Denmark in partnership with the World Bank provides

2550-746: Is sent to the rest of the British grid . On a monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly basis—or less—wind might supply as much as or more than 100% of current use, with the rest stored, exported or curtailed. The seasonal industry might then take advantage of high wind and low usage times such as at night when wind output can exceed normal demand. Such industry might include the production of silicon, aluminum, steel, or natural gas, and hydrogen, and using future long-term storage to facilitate 100% energy from variable renewable energy . Homes and businesses can also be programmed to vary electricity demand , for example by remotely turning up water heater thermostats. Wind power

2635-415: Is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at 1,218 MW . Near offshore wind farms may be connected by AC and far offshore by HVDC. Wind power resources are not always located near to high population density. As transmission lines become longer, the losses associated with power transmission increase, as modes of losses at lower lengths are exacerbated and new modes of losses are no longer negligible as

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2720-449: Is variable, and during low wind periods, it may need to be replaced by other power sources. Transmission networks presently cope with outages of other generation plants and daily changes in electrical demand, but the variability of intermittent power sources such as wind power is more frequent than those of conventional power generation plants which, when scheduled to be operating, may be able to deliver their nameplate capacity around 95% of

2805-565: The Atlantic Ocean , from the Canary Islands to the Turks and Caicos Islands a distance of about 5,600 km (3,500 mi), from 20 November 2013, to 17 December 2013. Each of the six spent four hours each day surfing, broken into two sessions of two hours each, one during the day, and the other during the night. Kitesurfing on water includes freestyle and big air using a kiteboard similar to

2890-506: The North brand, now Duotone), then Cabrinha ( Neil Pryde ) with 25–35,000 kites a year each. They are followed by Naish , F-One, Core kiteboarding, Slingshot sports, Liquid Force , Airush, Ozone Kites , Flysurfer and others. The GKA recorded 100,000 kites sales in 2017 for its members, giving an estimated 140–150,000 total kites sales for 2017. Technavio predicted a global kiteboarding equipment market reaching US$ 2,120 million by 2021, growing at

2975-476: The Paris Agreement goals to limit climate change , analysts say it should expand much faster – by over 1% of electricity generation per year. Wind power is considered a sustainable , renewable energy source, and has a much smaller impact on the environment compared to burning fossil fuels . Wind power is variable , so it needs energy storage or other dispatchable generation energy sources to attain

3060-425: The Paris Agreement 's goals to limit climate change , analysts say it should expand much faster – by over 1% of electricity generation per year. Expansion of wind power is being hindered by fossil fuel subsidies . The actual amount of electric power that wind can generate is calculated by multiplying the nameplate capacity by the capacity factor , which varies according to equipment and location. Estimates of

3145-517: The Atlantic coast of France , developed kites for kitesurfing in the late 1970s and early 1980s and patented an inflatable kite design in November 1987, a design that has been used by companies to develop their own products. Bill Roeseler, a Boeing aerodynamicist , and his son Cory Roeseler patented the "KiteSki" system, which consisted of water skis powered by a two-line, delta style kite, controlled via

3230-728: The North Sea near Hanstholm, riding the CORE XR Pro 7m kite. The previous record holder for the height of a single jump was Jamie Overbeek at 35.3m. Nick Jacobsen achieved a previous world record for the highest kite jump, measured by WOO Sports on February 19, 2017 in Cape Town , South Africa , during a session with 40-knot winds. Jacobsen's jump reached 28.6 meters high, with an airtime of 8.5 seconds. The record has been broken several times since then, and WOO Sports maintains jump-related leaderboards in different categories (airtime, height, etc.) based on

3315-742: The PKRA was sold to a group of investors, becoming the Virgin Kitesurfing World Championship (VKWC). The WS itself has split the governance of its own events between the GKA for the expression disciplines and the IKA for the racing disciplines. The GKA has then split the expression disciplines, choosing to run the Wave and Strapless Tour themselves, while ceding to the World Kiteboarding League to run

3400-400: The biggest current challenges to wind power grid integration in some countries is the necessity of developing new transmission lines to carry power from wind farms, usually in remote lowly populated areas due to availability of wind, to high load locations, usually on the coasts where population density is higher. Any existing transmission lines in remote locations may not have been designed for

3485-700: The capacity factor can be calculated from the yearly output. Wind energy penetration is the fraction of energy produced by wind compared with the total generation. Wind power's share of worldwide electricity usage in 2021 was almost 7%, up from 3.5% in 2015. There is no generally accepted maximum level of wind penetration. The limit for a particular grid will depend on the existing generating plants, pricing mechanisms, capacity for energy storage , demand management, and other factors. An interconnected electric power grid will already include reserve generating and transmission capacity to allow for equipment failures. This reserve capacity can also serve to compensate for

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3570-406: The capacity factors for wind installations are in the range of 35% to 44%. Since wind speed is not constant, a wind farm's annual energy production is never as much as the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year. The ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity factor. Online data is available for some locations, and

3655-410: The construction and operating phase. Jobs include the manufacturing of wind turbines and the construction process, which includes transporting, installing, and then maintaining the turbines. An estimated 1.25 million people were employed in wind power in 2020. Bow kite The bow kite design was pioneered by Bruno Legaignoux, and has been licensed to many kite manufacturers. Bow kites have

3740-757: The cost of wind power matches traditional sources) in some areas of Europe in the mid-2000s, and in the US around the same time. Falling prices continue to drive the Levelized cost down and it has been suggested that it has reached general grid parity in Europe in 2010, and will reach the same point in the US around 2016 due to an expected reduction in capital costs of about 12%. In 2021, the CEO of Siemens Gamesa warned that increased demand for low-cost wind turbines combined with high input costs and high costs of steel result in increased pressure on

3825-635: The course racing style of kitesurfing was announced as a sport for the 2016 Rio Olympics , replacing windsurfing . However, after a vote by the General Assembly of the ISAF in November 2012, the RSX windsurfer was reinstated for both Men and Women, resulting in kitesurfing being left out. The ISAF mid-year meeting of May 2013 proposed seeking an eleventh medal to include kitesurfing in 2020 without making any changes to existing events. In 2014, course-racing kiteboarding

3910-663: The data recorded and uploaded by its users. Jesse Richman holds the record for hangtime at 22 seconds, set at Crissy Field in San Francisco, California . Airton Cozzolino holds the record for strapless hangtime at 19 seconds. French kitesurfer Sébastien Cattelan became the first sailor to break the 50 knots barrier by reaching 50.26 knots on 3 October 2008 at the Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia . On 4 October, Alex Caizergues (also of France) broke this record with

3995-552: The dominant form of kiteboard. In 2000, a new freestyle competition, sponsored by Red Bull was launched in Maui . The competition, named Red Bull King of the Air , judged riders on height, versatility, and style. The competition is still held annually in Cape Town, South Africa . From 2001 onward, twin-tip bi-directional boards became more popular for most flat water riders, with directional boards still in use for surf conditions. In May 2012,

4080-420: The early days of the sport, there were significant injuries and some fatalities, but the safety record has improved with better equipment and instruction. In October 1977 Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise (Netherlands) received the first patent for KiteSurfing. The patent covers, specifically, a water sport using a floating board of a surfboard type where a pilot standing up on it is pulled by a wind-catching device of

4165-399: The electric-power network to be readied for the predictable variations in production that occur. It is thought that the most reliable low-carbon electricity systems will include a large share of wind power. Typically, conventional hydroelectricity complements wind power very well. When the wind is blowing strongly, nearby hydroelectric stations can temporarily hold back their water. When

4250-514: The electricity . For example, socially responsible manufacturers pay utility companies a premium that goes to subsidize and build new wind power infrastructure. Companies use wind-generated power, and in return, they can claim that they are undertaking strong "green" efforts. Wind projects provide local taxes, or payments in place of taxes and strengthen the economy of rural communities by providing income to farmers with wind turbines on their land. The wind energy sector can also produce jobs during

4335-417: The elimination of subsidies in many markets. As of 2021, subsidies are still often given to offshore wind. But they are generally no longer necessary for onshore wind in countries with even a very low carbon price such as China, provided there are no competing fossil fuel subsidies . Secondary market forces provide incentives for businesses to use wind-generated power, even if there is a premium price for

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4420-478: The end of 1998 kitesurfing had become an extreme sport, distributed and taught through shops and schools worldwide. The first competition was held on Maui in September 1998 and was won by Flash Austin. Starting in 1999, kitesurfing became a mainstream sport with the entry of key windsurfing manufacturers, namely Robby Naish and Neil Pryde . Single direction boards derived from windsurfing and surfing designs became

4505-474: The export of electric power when needed. Electrical utilities continue to study the effects of large-scale penetration of wind generation on system stability. A wind energy penetration figure can be specified for different duration of time but is often quoted annually. To generate almost all electricity from wind annually requires substantial interconnection to other systems, for example some wind power in Scotland

4590-527: The first commercial brand of the industry: "Kitesurf". In 1997, the Legaignoux brothers developed and sold the breakthrough "Wipika" kite design that had a structure of preformed inflatable tubes and a simple bridle system to the wingtips, both of which greatly assisted water re-launch. Bruno Legaignoux continued to improve kite designs, including developing the bow kite design, which has been licensed to many kite manufacturers. In 1997, specialized kiteboards were developed by Raphaël Salles and Laurent Ness. By

4675-456: The first of which was on 28 July 2011, in which an incident occurred where he found himself floating in 36 °F water with no board, kite, or GPS unit for 1 hour before being rescued. On his second attempt on 2 August he and two friends sailed half the distance before turning around due to poor wind conditions. A team of six kitesurfers, Filippo van Hellenberg Hubar, Eric Pequeno, Max Blom, Camilla Ringvold, Ike Frans, and Dennis Gijsbers crossed

4760-549: The freestyle events and the Kite Park League to run the park events. The freestyle events were then handed to the Kiteboarding Riders United (KRU). Several different kitesurfing styles are evolving, some of which cross over. Styles of kiteboarding include freestyle, freeride, speed, course racing, wakestyle, big air, park, and surfing. Kiteboarding can pose hazards to surfers, beachgoers, bystanders and others on

4845-412: The industry sells around 100,000 to 150,000 kites per year. Most power kites are leading-edge inflatable kites or foil kites attached by about 20 m (66 ft) of flying lines to a control bar and a harness. The kitesurfer rides on either a bidirectional board (a "twin-tip", similar to a wakeboard), a directional surfboard , or a foil board . They often wear a wetsuit in mild to cold waters. In

4930-449: The kite to be fully depowerable, they had a number of disadvantages compared to classic C-kites. These included possible inversion of the kite; less stability; heavier bar pressure, leading to greater user fatigue; more difficult relaunch; and lack of "sled boosting" effect when jumping. In 2006, second-generation flat LEI kites were developed, which improved many previous issues. The bridle and control bar design has later been refined to give

5015-403: The larger wind developers have in-house modeling capabilities. The total amount of economically extractable power available from the wind is considerably more than present human power use from all sources. The strength of wind varies, and an average value for a given location does not alone indicate the amount of energy a wind turbine could produce there. To assess prospective wind power sites,

5100-436: The late 1970s and early 1980s were successfully tested, the sport received a wider audience in the late 1990s and became mainstream at the turn of the century. It has freestyle, wave-riding, and racing competitions. The sport held the speed sailing record , reaching 55.65 kn (103.06 km/h) before being eclipsed by the 65.45 kn (121.21 km/h) Vestas Sailrocket . Worldwide, there are 1.5 million kitesurfers, while

5185-426: The length is increased; making it harder to transport large loads over large distances. When the transmission capacity does not meet the generation capacity, wind farms are forced to produce below their full potential or stop running altogether, in a process known as curtailment . While this leads to potential renewable generation left untapped, it prevents possible grid overload or risk to reliable service. One of

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5270-415: The low marginal costs of this technology. The effect has been identified in several European markets. For wind power plants exposed to electricity market pricing in markets with high penetration of variable renewable energy sources, profitability can be challenged. Turbine prices have fallen significantly in recent years due to tougher competitive conditions such as the increased use of energy auctions, and

5355-408: The lowest winds in seventy years, In the future, smoothing peaks by producing green hydrogen may help when wind has a larger share of generation. While the output from a single turbine can vary greatly and rapidly as local wind speeds vary, as more turbines are connected over larger and larger areas the average power output becomes less variable and more predictable. Weather forecasting permits

5440-460: The lowest-cost electricity sources per unit of energy produced. In many locations, new onshore wind farms are cheaper than new coal or gas plants . Regions in the higher northern and southern latitudes have the highest potential for wind power. In most regions, wind power generation is higher in nighttime, and in winter when solar power output is low. For this reason, combinations of wind and solar power are suitable in many countries. Wind

5525-510: The manufacturers and decreasing profit margins. Northern Eurasia, Canada, some parts of the United States, and Patagonia in Argentina are the best areas for onshore wind: whereas in other parts of the world solar power, or a combination of wind and solar, tend to be cheaper. Wind power is capital intensive but has no fuel costs. The price of wind power is therefore much more stable than

5610-708: The marginal price, by minimizing the use of expensive peaking power plants . The cost has decreased as wind turbine technology has improved. There are now longer and lighter wind turbine blades, improvements in turbine performance, and increased power generation efficiency. Also, wind project capital expenditure costs and maintenance costs have continued to decline. In 2021, a Lazard study of unsubsidized electricity said that wind power levelized cost of electricity continues to fall but more slowly than before. The study estimated new wind-generated electricity cost from $ 26 to $ 50/MWh, compared to new gas power from $ 45 to $ 74/MWh. The median cost of fully deprecated existing coal power

5695-628: The new competitions, and offer opportunities for new players specializing in new variants of the sport. Some of those international organizations are (or were): Several world cup events are sanctioned by the WS on behalf of the International Olympic Committee , a private association. KPWT exchanged endorsements with IKA in 2009. Both become opposing parties as the IKA also got an agreement with PKRA. IKA threatened and banned riders who take part in competitions without its endorsement. In 2015,

5780-567: The number of kitesurfers was estimated by the ISAF and IKA at 1.5 million persons worldwide (pending review). The global market for kite gear sales was then worth US$ 250 million. The Global Kitesports Association (GKA) estimates 10% of the kitesurfers continue during winter. After substantial growth, activity was levelling by 2017 at around 85,000 kites sold yearly by GKA members, twintip boards sales decreased from 37,000 in 2013 to 28,000 in 2016 and directional boards from 8,000 to 7,000. The largest manufacturers are Boards and More (previously under

5865-428: The power transfer, or energy transfer per second is P = 1 2 M v 2 = 1 2 ρ A v 3 {\displaystyle P={\tfrac {1}{2}}Mv^{2}={\tfrac {1}{2}}\rho Av^{3}} . Wind power is thus proportional to the third power of the wind speed; the available power increases eightfold when the wind speed doubles. Change of wind speed by

5950-502: The record holder of France and Europe with 55.49 and was the first rider to reach 55 knots. On 13 November 2017, French rider Alex Caizergues became the new world speed record holder in France ( Salin-de-Giraud ) reaching 57.97 knots or 107.36 km/h. While Nuno "Stru" Figueiredo held the record at 62-foot (19-meter) from a 2018 ride at Praia do Norte in Nazaré, Portugal, Patri McLaughlin set

6035-456: The record was held only by sailboats or windsurfers. Douglas also became the world's third over-50 knots sailor, when on 8 October he made a 50.54 knots (93.60 km/h) run. On 14 November 2009, Alex Caizergues completed another run of 50.98 knots in Namibia. October 2010, Rob Douglas became the outright record holder for the short distance 500 meters with 55.65 knots. Sébastien Cattelan became

6120-514: The required electrical base-load can save both fuel and total electrical generation costs. The energy needed to build a wind farm divided into the total output over its life, Energy Return on Energy Invested , of wind power varies, but averages about 20–25. Thus, the energy payback time is typically around a year. Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electric power, cheaper than coal plants and new gas plants. According to BusinessGreen , wind turbines reached grid parity (the point at which

6205-408: The time. Electric power generated from wind power can be highly variable at several different timescales: hourly, daily, or seasonally. Annual variation also exists but is not as significant. Because instantaneous electrical generation and consumption must remain in balance to maintain grid stability, this variability can present substantial challenges to incorporating large amounts of wind power into

6290-577: The transport of large amounts of energy. In particular geographic regions, peak wind speeds may not coincide with peak demand for electrical power, whether offshore or onshore. A possible future option may be to interconnect widely dispersed geographic areas with an HVDC super grid . In 2020, wind supplied almost 1600 TWh of electricity, which was over 5% of worldwide electrical generation and about 2% of energy consumption. With over 100 GW added during 2020, mostly in China , global installed wind power capacity reached more than 730 GW. But to help meet

6375-580: The variability of wind generation. Utility-scale batteries are often used to balance hourly and shorter timescale variation, but car batteries may gain ground from the mid-2020s. Wind power advocates argue that periods of low wind can be dealt with by simply restarting existing power stations that have been held in readiness, or interlinking with HVDC. The combination of diversifying variable renewables by type and location, forecasting their variation, and integrating them with dispatchable renewables, flexible fueled generators, and demand response can create

6460-407: The varying power generation produced by wind stations. Studies have indicated that 20% of the total annual electrical energy consumption may be incorporated with minimal difficulty. These studies have been for locations with geographically dispersed wind farms, some degree of dispatchable energy or hydropower with storage capacity, demand management, and interconnected to a large grid area enabling

6545-692: The volatile prices of fossil fuel sources. However, the estimated average cost per unit of electric power must incorporate the cost of construction of the turbine and transmission facilities, borrowed funds, return to investors (including the cost of risk), estimated annual production, and other components, averaged over the projected useful life of the equipment, which may be more than 20 years. Energy cost estimates are highly dependent on these assumptions so published cost figures can differ substantially. The presence of wind energy, even when subsidized, can reduce costs for consumers (€5 billion/yr in Germany) by reducing

6630-453: The water. Many problems and dangers that may be encountered while learning kiting can be avoided or minimized by taking professional instruction through lesson centers. Kitesurfing schools provide courses and lessons to teach entry-level skills and more advanced ones, including: Kitesurfers change kite size and/or line length depending on wind strength — stronger winds call for a smaller kite to prevent overpower situations. Kitesurfers determine

6715-534: The wind drops they can, provided they have the generation capacity, rapidly increase production to compensate. This gives a very even overall power supply and virtually no loss of energy and uses no more water. Alternatively, where a suitable head of water is not available, pumped-storage hydroelectricity or other forms of grid energy storage such as compressed air energy storage and thermal energy storage can store energy developed by high-wind periods and release it when needed. The type of storage needed depends on

6800-507: The wind force acting on a kite is proportional to the square of the wind speed acting on it. Thus the relevant notion of apparent wind, which is the actual wind acting on the moving kite, sail or wing. Wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails , windmills and windpumps , but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity generation. Today, wind power

6885-542: The wind penetration level – low penetration requires daily storage, and high penetration requires both short- and long-term storage – as long as a month or more. Stored energy increases the economic value of wind energy since it can be shifted to displace higher-cost generation during peak demand periods. The potential revenue from this arbitrage can offset the cost and losses of storage. Although pumped-storage power systems are only about 75% efficient and have high installation costs, their low running costs and ability to reduce

6970-559: The wind strength using either an anemometer or, more typically, visual clues as shown in the Beaufort scale . Modern kites dedicated to kitesurfing provide a "depower" option to reduce the power in the kite. By using depower, the kite's angle of attack to the wind is reduced, thereby catching less wind in the kite and reducing the pull. Bow kites have a wider wind range than C-kites, so two kite sizes (such as 7 m and 12 m) could form an effective quiver for winds ranging from 10 to 30+ knots for

7055-463: Was Maxime Nocher from Monaco, making him the youngest world champion, ahead of Oliver Bridge and Polish native Blazek Ozog . Kitesurfing was named an official event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires . Mixed Kite - Formula Kite was chosen by World Sailing for inclusion in the 2024 Summer Olympics. On August 8, 2023 South African athlete Joshua Emanuel ascended 36.2 meters in

7140-539: Was $ 42/MWh, nuclear $ 29/MWh and gas $ 24/MWh. The study estimated offshore wind at around $ 83/MWh. Compound annual growth rate was 4% per year from 2016 to 2021, compared to 10% per year from 2009 to 2021. While the levelised costs of wind power may have reached that of traditional combustion based power technologies, the market value of the generated power is also lower due to the merit order effect, which implies that electricity market prices are lower in hours with substantial generation of variable renewable energy due to

7225-635: Was included in the ISAF World Sailing World Cup program. In November 2014, 20 athletes attended the final competition in Abu Dhabi . The first place among women was taken by Elena Kalinina , while the men's champion was Great Britain's Oliver Bridge . In 2015, Elena Kalinina won again and received the title of the world champion, ahead of Great Britain's Steph Bridge and the Russian Anastasia Akopova . The world champion among men

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