Kitegen, an Italian company, is planning on making an unconventional use of wind force to generate electricity.
They are able to cut costs and simplify the process of generating renewable energy by using kites that fly at altitudes between 800 and 1,000 meters.
The movements of the kites are controlled by a computer, automatically. The kites are held by cables and anchored to a revolving structure that generates energy every time the wind force pulls and retracts the cables. This structure looks like a high-altitude turbine but here the turbine blades are replaced by kites.

Let’s take a look at some very interesting efficiency data. According to the company, a kite installation that occupies a diameter of 800 meters is able to generate as much energy as 150 wind turbines, which would require an area of 40km2.

The carrousel model holds several kites in the same unit and has an estimated energy generation capacity of 100 MW. Each kilowatt/hour it generates costs less than 0.03 Euros, which is less than the cost offered by fossil fuels today.

In June of 2006, the project was selected for financing by the Italian government, but received a lower priority rating. In 2008, the project was selected by the European Union and is expected to receive 3 million Euros for the installation of several structures.
The first commercial installation of the project is a 3MW generator that is being built near Asti, Italy. Tests started in September and operations should start soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_tqnsN_Tc

Source: Next Big Future, Wikipedia