USA - DOE Awards $24 Million for Wind Energy Research

DOE will provide Recovery Act grants of up to $8 million each for three universities to support R&D programs to improve land-based and offshore wind turbine performance and reliability. The Recovery Act money also will help provide education and career opportunities for students in the field of wind energy technologies.

Numerous alternative energy Smart Grid technologies are being developed with the goal of providing reliable, sustainable, clean energy and new jobs—and wind power is the fastest-growing source of green energy among them, according to DOE.

"Wind power has the potential to provide 20% of our electricity and create hundreds of thousands of jobs," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in his awards announcement. "We need to position the United States as the clear leader in this industry. The investment we're making today will help ensure that America has both the talent and the technology we need to compete.”

The three universities—Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Maine and the University of Minnesota—were competitively selected. The university-led consortia will include partners from private industry, state and local governments and other universities.

While the schools can receive up to $8 million each, specific amounts will be determined by the outcome of negotiations between the institutions and DOE.

During the next two years, the university consortia will obtain utility-scale and prototype wind turbines that will give both researchers and students hands-on research and development experience in wind energy. The DOE awards also will be used to augment the universities' wind technology programs and give financial assistance to students for research fellowships and internships in the wind industry.

Here are brief project summaries:

- Illinois Institute of Technology will use its DOE award to install a test turbine, a GE 1.5MW turbine, on the site of an existing wind energy project in Marseilles, Illinois.

- University of Maine will design and deploy two 10KW turbines at its Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site and one 100KW floating prototype turbine at a University of New Hampshire offshore site.

- University of Minnesota will install a new Siemens 2.3MW turbine research center at its Outreach Research and Education Park.

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net