appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Huizhao Huang

China has flown an airborne wind energy system to 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) above sea level and generated electricity from the sky, in what state broadcaster CCTV described as a world first.
According to a CCTV report on Saturday, the prototype S4000 craft completed a full work cycle – ascent, station-keeping, power generation and recovery – at a test site in northwestern China, which the broadcaster called a breakthrough for high-altitude wind power and a step towards engineering deployment.
The craft, which is roughly the length of a Boeing 747 and resembles an airship, is filled with helium and floats into the sky carrying lightweight turbines. From a high altitude, it can harness stronger, steadier winds and send the electricity it generates back to the ground through a tether.
The craft can also be moved quickly between sites, making it suitable for providing electricity in remote locations such as deserts, highlands, islands and disaster zones beyond the reach of a power grid.
The S4000 was developed by Beijing start-up Sawes Energy Technology in collaboration with Tsinghua University and the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Founded in 2023, Sawes designates names for its models based on their operating altitude. It flew the S1500, the first of its craft to reach a power output of 1 megawatt, in September last year, followed by the S2000 at 2,000 metres in January. The two models had drawn orders worth nearly 500 million yuan (US$74.3 million) as of March, according to the company.
Another model, the S6000, is under development and is expected to fly above 6,000 metres this year, Hunan Daily reported in March.
The developers estimated that the costs of electricity generated at 3,000 metres would approach those of conventional ground-based wind power generation. At 9,000 metres, they said, the systems could operate for more than 8,000 hours a year, generating power at 0.03 yuan – less than half a US cent – per kilowatt-hour.
China’s 15th five-year plan for renewable energy has called for “exploring and researching” high-altitude wind power and other new forms of wind-generated electricity.
Beyond fully airborne systems, Chinese developers are also pursuing a different approach to harnessing high-altitude winds – using ground-operated generators paired with a flying device. A 5,000-square-metre wind-catching canopy, billed as the world’s largest, was shipped from Beijing last September for a programme led by China Energy Engineering Corporation. Power generation trials are due to begin by the end of 2026.


How Canada’s Trump headache is fuelling a China trade boom

China’s oil demand could falter as Saudi pipeline shutdown raises costs

Private equity’s Fang Fenglei on investing in China, capital market reforms

No pit stops: Chinese coal mine makes big upgrade with autonomous electric trucks

China energy security

China taps high-altitude winds for power generation by flying craft to 4,000m

The S4000 craft. Photo: CCTV

The craft, roughly the length of a Boeing 747, is filled with helium and harnesses winds at a high altitude to generate electricity. Photo: CCTV

A rural city, once known for livestock, now provides China’s AI computing fuel

Photo: Dennis Yip

Grassland in Ulanqab, in northern China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on July 31. Photo: Xinhua

Wind farms and livestock in Ulanqab, in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: Ben Jiang

China’s power grid no longer keeping pace with green energy capacity, study says

An offshore solar farm in Zhangzhou, in southeastern China’s Fujian province, on July 6. Photo: Xinhua

China’s green-energy costs seen undercutting traditional energy as capacity hits record

A boy looks at a table demonstrating photovoltaic power generation at the Green Energy Pavilion during the 10th China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, Yunnan province, on June 13. Photo: Xinhua

China and Switzerland have a new tariff-scrapping trade deal. How will the EU react?

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Swiss President Guy Parmelin clinched the FTA expansion deal in talks in Bern on Thursday. Photo: Handout

China’s green dominance a ‘fundamental dilemma’ for Western governments, report says

Employees work on a production line for lithium-ion battery copper foil at Lingbao Baoxin Electronic Science and Technology in Sanmenxia, in central China’s Henan province, on April 17. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Electric vehicles wait for shipment at Nantong Port in Nantong, in east China’s Jiangsu province, on May 29, 2026. Photo: Xinhua

Economy

China Economy

Tech

Business

Climate and energy

Tech Trends

The craft, developed by a Chinese start-up, uses winds at high altitude to produce electricity


The craft, developed by a Chinese start-up, uses winds at high altitude to produce electricity.


China taps high-altitude winds for power generation by flying craft to 4,000m

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The craft, developed by a Chinese start-up, uses winds at high altitude to produce electricity

The craft, developed by a Chinese start-up, uses winds at high altitude to produce electricity