Background In high altitudes, above ground winds are stronger and more equalised than those close to the surface. In the past, several attempts to utilise these strong winds for energy generation have failed while more recent experiments have severe disadvantages. The project consortium for the REECH-500 project, however, brings together the latest developments in different technologies to overcome the obstacles and yield the energy from high altitudes (500 m) with an environmentally and economically sound approach. The new system connects several automatically steered kites via cable to a monorail system mounted on masts. The individual kites are interconnected and move in a circle around the monorail oval. Those kites facing an opposite wind (week side of the oval) will be manoeuvred with low resistance to the wind. The other kites situated in favourable winds (strong side of the oval) are fully exposed to the wind and not only drag the first mentioned kites back to the strong side but also generate usable energy. A generator converts the kinetic energy of the ground cable into electrical energy. Objectives The project aims to: Set up and operate an energy generator prototype, which uses the strong winds at 500m altitude; Identify the optimal operation (wind forces, altitudes, technical constitution, type, shape and size of the kites); Demonstrate the advantages over conventional wind energy: lower investment costs, better efficiency and profitability, base load capability (80-90% wind availability compared to 20-30 % of conventional wind generators); and Yield three-dimensional data of wind characteristics for the first time for wind turbulences at this altitude, in this dimension and over such a large area. Results The project has withdrawn before the first pre-financing.