The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has announced it has signed a joint agreement with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to establish a framework for the two organizations to recommend permitting practices and still-to-be-developed standards for wind turbine structures, including towers and foundations.
The agreement will also govern the management and release of new wind turbine structural standards that may be developed under the voluntary consensus standards process accredited by the American National Standards Institute.
The consensus standards process would follow the ASCE standards development procedures and tap both wind energy and structural expert volunteers in the development of any new wind turbine structural standards.
Both the recommended practices and any new standards are expected to increase efficiencies in the permitting of large, land-based wind turbines, the organizations say.
