The Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Maine and the University of Minnesota will receive up to $8 million each to support university research and development programs to improve land-based and offshore wind turbine performance and reliability, as well as provide career educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students in wind energy technologies.
The three competitively selected, university-led projects will include partners from private industry, state and local governments, and other universities. Over the next two years, the university consortia will acquire utility-scale and prototype wind turbines that will provide researchers and students with hands-on research and development (R&D) and educational opportunities.
Universities will also use the DOE funds to enhance wind technology curricula and provide financial assistance to students for research fellowships and internships with the rapidly expanding wind industry.
The Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago will use the funds to install a GE 1.5 MW test turbine at an existing wind project owned by a consortium partner in Marseilles, Ill. The university consortium's R&D plan includes advanced concepts for rotor control and drive train control, robust sensors for blades, and improved aeroelastic models to improve wind turbine performance and reliability.
The University of Maine in Orno, Maine, plans to design and deploy two 10 kW and one 100 kW floating offshore turbine prototypes. Two turbines will be located at the University of Maine's Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site in a pre-selected site in state waters. One turbine will be operated at an offshore test site in the Isle of Shoals by the University of New Hampshire.
The university consortium's R&D plan includes optimization of designs for floating platforms by evaluating options for using more durable, lighter, hybrid composite materials; manufacturability; and deployment logistics.
The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis plans to install a new Siemens 2.3 MW turbine research facility at the University of Minnesota Outreach Research and Education Park to study novel mechanical power transmission and electric generator systems.
The university consortium's R&D plan includes active and passive flow control strategies to increase energy capture, broaden the operational envelope of the turbine, and reduce structural loads and fatigue.
SOURCE: The Department of Energy
