USA - Tech University announces wind energy institute

Texas Tech University has announced it will become the research hub for the newly formed National Institute for Renewable Energy, a wind energy consortium started with financial help from West Texas organizations such as the Development Corporation of Abilene. The institute’s formation was announced Monday at the American Wind Energy Association’s Windpower 2010 conference in Dallas, which has about 24,000 attendees from the industry. The DCOA unanimously voted in December to offer $50,000 to the consortium.

A news release from Texas Tech explains NIRE will be “an independent public-private collaboration that will work to solve key scientific and technology challenges facing the wind power industry.” Seven of the world’s 10 largest wind power projects are in West Texas, according to the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium. David Miller, project leader for NIRE, told DCOA the institute will boost collaborative research between the government, universities and the private sector. The news release says NIRE will build and operate wind farms for research and sell the energy in the commercial marketplace to fund a nonprofit research center. NIRE also will provide services to industry partners and offer an industry consortium managed by The Wind Alliance.

According to the news release, the Texas Tech-led coalition and national institute will:
- Develop technology for low-cost wind energy and storage.
- Hire additional renewable energy scientists at Texas Tech to direct research.
- Purchase mobile equipment to map wind flows and help design more efficient commercial wind farms.

National organizations such as the AWEA, The Wind Alliance and The Wind Coalition will be joined by as many as 30 private-sector firms with large investments in renewable energy projects. Sweetwater Mayor Greg Wortham, executive director of the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium, said Texas Tech is an ideal place for this institute. “Texas Tech has all the infrastructure necessary, with programs in wind business, wind law, engineering and more,” he said.

Abilene residents can take graduate courses in some of those areas remotely through Texas Tech’s Abilene branch. Wortham, who is attending the Windpower conference this week, said West Texas is proving itself to be the world’s wind energy epicenter. “You’ve got 1,300 booths in the expo at this conference, and hundreds are from West Texas,” he said. “Everywhere I look I see someone from Abilene and Nolan County. Lubbock and Amarillo will be the center of wind in the next 10 years. We are a major part of the global economic world.”

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