This Giant Aircraft Aims to Break Wind Energy’s Size Limits

Mark Lundstrom ( / mark-lundstrom-aa848 ) is the founder and CEO of Radia (radia.com/) .
Radia is developing the WindRunner, the world’s largest aircraft, specifically designed to transport massive offshore wind turbine blades-some reaching the length of football fields-to onshore sites. This capability, termed "GigaWind," could redefine the scope and scale of onshore wind projects. Radia isn’t stopping at building these groundbreaking aircraft; they also plan to develop wind energy projects to catalyze the GigaWind transformation.
This episode dives into Radia’s verticalized approach to addressing a major challenge in wind energy: the physical limitations of transporting turbine blades via the U.S. interstate highway system. By circumventing these constraints, Radia envisions a future where wind farms can reach unprecedented scales.
In this episode, we cover:
• [2:13] Mark's background in aerospace
• [6:27] Logistics of wind turbines on land today
• [9:03] Onshore vs. offshore wind energy in terms of turbine size, logistics, and economics
• [14:04] China's wind energy generation
• [15:53] An overview of Radia's WindRunner aircraft
• [20:57] Radia's plan to become a power provider
• [24:07] Siting and permitting process for Radia's projects
• [28:23] Radia's progress to date
• [30:20] Capital stack needed to fund Radia's WindRunner
• [35:05] Radia's decision to come out of stealth
• [38:32] Who Radia wants to hear from and hire
• [39:43] How Radia's solution can address AI power demands
Episode recorded on Sept 19, 2024 (Published on Nov 13, 2024)
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