Carpinteria, Calif.-headquartered Clipper Windpower, a wind turbine developer and manufacturer, has received an Outstanding Research and Development Partnership Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the design and development of its 2.5 MW Liberty wind turbine.
‘Clipper's Liberty wind turbine, developed under a partnership with DOE and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is the next major step in the evolution of wind turbine design,’ says Steve Lindenberg, acting program manager for the DOE Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program.
The largest wind turbine manufactured in the U.S., the Liberty turbine is designed to address current industry gearbox and other component deficiencies and minimize unscheduled maintenance events, according to Clipper.
The turbine distributes torque loads four times more efficiently than conventional machines through its patented Quantum Drive distributed generation powertrain, while proprietary permanent magnet generator technology delivers higher powertrain efficiency, the company adds.
