The Department of Energy recently awarded over $5 million to aid wind energy development. A portion of the funding targets midsize wind turbines with the hope of boosting their speed and scale. The goal is to accelerate the commercialization of turbines generating 200-500kW.
Midsize turbines are a great solution at schools, factories, remote locations, and commercial facilities because they can be installed on site, as opposed to operating as part of a wind farm. Three projects have been selected to address obstacles contributing to a sluggish turbine market. To increase availability, the projects will test technologies that lower installation expenses and enhance productivity.
Funding recipients include:
- Clean Green Energy, LLC (Brighton, MI): Advancing a 200kW vertical axis turbine toward mass production. The vertical design will allow for distributed onsite generation near buildings.
- Northern Power Systems (Barre, VT): Will develop, complete, and test a 450kW turbine within 18 months that will reduce turbine energy costs.
- Texas Tech University (Lubbock, TX): Aiming to adapt a two-bladed turbine to downwind of the tower in order to boost output to 500kW and eliminate cranes during installation.
