SoftBank Corp. will invest $7 million in Altaeros Energies Inc., a U.S. company developing airborne wind turbines.
Altaeros is working to commercialize technology to lift wind turbines into consistently high altitudes so they can produce more power than tower-mounted turbines, the companies said in a statement on Friday.
Airborne turbines hold promise for remote islands and areas in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said in the statement. The technology also has potential to create new businesses by combining it with communication and surveillance technologies, he said.
Altaeros' device, called Buoyant Airborne Turbine, adapts existing technology for tethered aerostats, which have lifted heavy communications and monitoring equipment to high altitudes, according to the company website. BAT uses a shell filled with helium and a lightweight turbine and a portable ground station.
Altaeros was founded in 2010 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.