AWE-SE

A repository establishing the coupling between interoperable external repositories repositories AWE-Power and AWE-Eco to setup workflows for system design of airborne wind energy (AWE). The framework is based on the field of multi-disciplinary design, analysis and optimisation (MDAO). It enables the design of AWE systems with an objective to minimise the levelised cost of energy (LCoE) and also other profit-based metrics.

How to cite

If you use the framework then please cite:

Joshi, R., von Terzi, D., and Schmehl, R.: System design and scaling trends in airborne wind energy demonstrated for a ground-generation concept, Wind Energ. Sci., 10, 695–718, https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-10-695-2025, 2025.

Dependencies

The framework is built and tested in MATLAB R2021b (without additional add-ons). Try installing this version if your version of MATLAB does not execute the code successfully.

Installation

Please Clone the repository using the following command

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/awegroup/AWE-SE

This will automatically download the interoperable external repositories AWE-Power and AWE-Eco as git submodules.

Overview of the repository

The Repository consists following folders:

1. AWE-Eco: External repository estimating cost of AWE systems included as a git submodule.
2. AWE-Power: External repository estimating power curve of AWE systems included as a git submodule.
3. inputFiles: Contains pre-defined input files.
4. outputFiles: Contains generated output files based on the pre-defined input files.
5. src: Contains the functions required to utilise the capabilities of the framework.
6. WES2025_paper: Contains scripts, input files and generated output files used to generate plots used in the associated journal publication mentioned in the citation.

Pre-defined example simulation

The script example_workFlow_AWE_Power_AWE_Eco_coupling.m can be directly executed to simulate with pre-defined input files.

It shows the workflow to couple AWE-Power and AWE-Eco.

inputFiles folder

1. A pre-defined file named inputFile_500kW_example.yml describes a 500kW system and is the input file required to run AWE-Power.
2. A pre-defined file named eco_cost_inputs_GG_fixed.xlsx describes the initialization of AWE-Eco.
3. A pre-defined file named eco_system_inputs_awePower.m describes the coupling between variables of AWE-Power and AWE-Eco.

outputFiles folder

The generated output files have a prefix as alpha-numeric text mentioned under the name field in the input file. Following .mat files are automatically saved in the outputFiles folder at the end of every simulation.

AWE-Power outputs

1. optimDetails has the details regarding the optimization.
2. outputs has all the raw outputs.
3. processedOutputs has post-processed relevant outputs for better visualization.

AWE-Eco outputs

1. inp has the definition of the system taken from the outputs of AWE-Power.
2. par has the cost parameters as defined in eco_cost_inputs_GG_fixed.xlsx.
3. eco has the final outputs.

To run with user-defined inputs

Create your own input files preserving the format and the structure as described by the pre-defined input files and use the example_workFlow_AWE_Power_AWE_Eco_coupling.m as a reference for execution.

Licence

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Please see the below WAIVER in association with the license.

WAIVER

Technische Universiteit Delft hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the program “AWE-SE” (a systems engineering framework for system design of airborne wind energy) written by the Author(s).

Prof.dr. H.G.C. (Henri) Werij, Dean of Aerospace Engineering

Copyright (c) 2025 Rishikesh Joshi

Acknowledgement

The project was supported by the Digital Competence Centre, Delft University of Technology.