Kite operation on Valkenburg airfield, Leiden, The Netherlands (12 April 2012).
Matthew F. A. Doe
MSc Graduate Delft University of Technology Faculty of Technology, Policy and
Management Stiemensvaart 11 2497 ZD Den Haag The Netherlands matthew_doe@hotmail.com tbm.tudelft.nl
How to Introduce Kite-Based Airborne Wind Energy Systems – The Selection of
Niche Strategies to Overcome Barriers to Adoption
J. Roland Ortt, Linda M. Kamp, Matthew F. A. Doe
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology Commercialising radically new high-tech systems is a
risky strategy. Start-ups introducing such systems fail sig-nificantly more often than incumbent companies intro-ducing incrementally new systems. In practice, radically new high-tech systems are often introduced in market niches prior to large-scale diffusion in a mainstream mar-ket application. A serious gap in the scientific literature is the lack of knowledge regarding specific niche strategies to introduce such systems and the limited understand-ing of how to assess the market when choosunderstand-ing a spe-cific niche strategy. Also managers and technology de-velopers often lack an overview of the relevant barriers in their field and an insight in which are the most appropri-ate niche strappropri-ategies to introduce their radical innovation. Both scientifically and managerially it is highly important to fill this gap. This paper will focus on kite-based air-borne wind energy systems (kite-based AWE-systems). In contrast with wind turbines, these systems benefit from higher wind speeds and lower material usage. However, with these benefits come several radical changes which, in turn, hamper direct large-scale diffusion. The goal
of the paper is to indicate how kite-based AWE systems can be introduced. Two research questions will be ad-dressed: (1) What are the barriers preventing direct large-scale diffusion of kite-based AWE systems; (2) What are the niche-strategies to deal with these barriers? The pa-per is based on literature research and interviews with ex-perts and technology developers in the field of kite-based AWE-systems. A first result from the interviews is a list of the most important barriers. We show how particu-lar combinations of barriers, such as the lack of knowl-edge of the technology that has an effect on the support and investment opportunities, together block large-scale production and diffusion. A second result is a list of sev-eral niche strategies that can be used to tackle the identi-fied barriers in this field. The ”geographic niche strategy”, the “demo, experiment and develop niche strategy” and the ”educate niche strategy”, for example are identified as good strategies to introduce the kite-based systems. We will discuss the managerial implications of the barri-ers and the niche-strategies that we found.
