The Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development (IAWIND) has awarded a $300,000 grant to Iowa State University for wind energy research.
The grant, which will be matched by wind energy assessment company Anemometry Specialists, will be used by Eugene S. Takle, a professor of agricultural meteorology and director of the climate science program at ISU, to develop a balloon-borne buoy-mounted measurement platform for offshore wind energy resource assessment.
According to IAWIND, the total cost of energy for an offshore wind farm could be reduced by up to 4% if a buoy-based system – rather than an offshore meteorological tower – were used for wind resource assessment.
The total equipment and installation cost of the buoy-based instrumentation system will be less than $100,000, which represents at least a 90% reduction in cost compared to offshore meteorological towers, according to IAWIND.
