A $1.3 million experimental airborne wind turbine has begun operation in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Designed by Altaeros Energies — a four-year-old start-up company ‘spun out’ from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — the BAT (Buoyant Airborne Turbine) System comprises a helium-filled open-centred blimp that hovers at a height of some 1,000ft and is anchored by a power cable.

The 18.3m-diameter turbine will be in operation for about 18 months, as developers study its energy-generating capabilities. It is expected to produce enough electricity to power more than a dozen homes. The Alaska Energy Authority is partially funding the project. Additional funding has come from RNT Associates International, a consulting firm owned by Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group.

Altaeros chief executive officer Ben Glass said: “The BAT can be transported and set up without the need for large cranes, towers or underground foundations that have hampered past wind projects.”