Minesto, a marine energy technology developer based in Sweden, is a winner of the 2025 Gizmodo Science Fair for deploying the first operational, megawatt-scale tidal energy kite in the Faroe Islands.
The question
Can we use an underwater “kite” to turn ocean tides into renewable energy?
The results
In February 2024, Minesto’s Dragon 12 tidal energy kite delivered its first electricity to the national grid in the Faroe Islands. This 40-foot-wide (12-meter-wide), 28-ton subsea powerplant is the largest and latest of three tidal energy kites Minesto has installed in the Faroe Islands since 2020. This one generates far more electricity.
Dragon 12 is called a kite because it produces electricity by “flying” underwater while tethered to the ocean floor, but it looks more like a small plane. Its wing uses hydrodynamic lift to move the kite while an onboard control system steers it in a figure-8 pattern. As it flies, a turbine shaft located at the rear of the kite turns a generator. Clean energy then travels through a cable inside the tether to a seabed umbilical, which transmits power to the onshore grid.
The figure-8 path allows Dragon 12 to accelerate faster than the current flowing past it, reducing the size of the kite and rotor necessary to generate power. Indeed, Dragon 12 is up to 15 times lighter per megawatt than other similar technologies, according to Minesto. Its design also maximizes energy production, allowing the turbine to operate in flow conditions as low as 3.9 feet per second (1.2 meters per second).
Dragon 12 produces power automatically and autonomously, Minesto’s Chief Technology Officer Bernt Erik Westre explained. Once the kite’s onboard sensors detect that flow conditions are conducive to energy generation, it’s off to the races. “We just tell the system to fly, and then it will decide whether conditions are okay to fly in, and it will start,” Westre told Gizmodo. “If they’re not anymore, it will stop.”
In the Faroe Islands, Dragon 12 operates at a depth of 164 feet (50 meters). Minesto’s tidal energy kites “cannot ever get to the surface, unless we detach them with a special tool,” Westre said. Unlike fixed-bottom wind turbines, tidal energy kites are invisible from the shoreline, and ships can safely sail over them. This, coupled with the fact that these power plants can operate in low-flow conditions, opens up a much larger marine renewable energy market, Westre explained.
Within the first two weeks of testing in the Faroe Islands, Minesto verified Dragon 12’s functionality and power production performance. The kite has been delivering clean energy to the national grid ever since, with a 25% increase in power output after Minesto lengthened its tether in May.
“If you want lightweight, renewable energy that’s invisible, you know who to call,” Westre said.
Why they did it
Before joining Minesto in 2016, Westre was working as a naval architect for the oil industry. Ultimately though, the impact this industry was having on the global climate and wealth disparity became too stark to ignore. Westre wanted to be a part of the solution, not the problem.
“I guess I came to a point where I wanted to be able to look my children—and eventually grandchildren, if I ever get any—in the eye and say, ‘I made a shot at it,’” he said. Plus, “We were making the world’s richest companies even richer, and that didn’t feel right anymore.”
Minesto, founded in 2007, doesn’t just aim to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. The company’s offbeat approach to commercial marine power production aims to maximize the amount of electricity people can harness from the ocean. Its tidal energy kites do this by operating across a wider range of conditions than traditional technologies. This, Westre hopes, will open up a vast, untapped market for tidal energy extraction.
Why they’re a winner
Minesto is developing a new class of megawatt-scale renewable energy technology that produces predictable, clean power in untapped parts of the ocean. While it isn’t the only company working toward this goal, its technology comes with several advantages. The main selling point is its ability to efficiently generate power in low-flow conditions.
“The [design] principle has been the same since 2007, which is to fly or move the turbine rather than keep it stationary underwater,” Westre said. “By doing it that way, the market—or global potential—is so much larger.”
Stationary systems—such as fixed-bottom tidal turbines—could theoretically operate in low-flow conditions too, but they would have to be huge, he explained. The fact that Minesto’s tidal energy kites move allows them to harness energy from slower currents while reducing cost and consumption of materials.
Another key advantage of this system is that it operates completely below the surface with minimal impact on marine wildlife. This avoids visual pollution that can negatively impact tourism and discourage public support for renewable energy projects.
What’s next
Minesto made big strides toward commercialization in 2024. As it continues building out its tidal energy provisions in the Faroe Islands, it’s working towards installing a first-of-its-kind tidal energy array with multiple Dragon 12 kites. The first phase will have a capacity of 10 megawatts—an initial step towards its eventual 200-megawatt capacity.
“10 megawatts on the Faroe Islands will make a difference,” Westre said. Once the array reaches its full capacity, it could meet 40% of the Faroe Islands’ expected electricity needs in 2030, according to Minesto partner Svenska Kullager Fabriken, a Swedish bearing company.
In June, the Swedish Energy Agency awarded Miensto and its partners $2.6 million to build a complete microgrid installation in the Faroe Islands. That project is expected to be complete by 2026.
The team
Minesto is led by CEO Martin Edlund, CTO Bernt Erik Westre, and COO Johannes Hüffmeier.
Click here to see all of the winners of the 2025 Gizmodo Science Fair.