NextEnergy Works to Land Wind Turbine R&D Facility
The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the development, design and construction of a dynamometer and test facility to monitor the performance and reliability of utility-scale wind turbine drivetrain systems. The operations must be capable of performing highly accelerated life tests of 5 to15 MW-rated wind turbine drivetrains and generators. NextEnergy and a team of Michigan industries have submitted an application for this competitive bid. This is an opporunity for Michigan to put itself into the thick of things for the next generation of larger and more powerful wind turbines. This is especially significant as these larger wind turbines are likely to be deployed in the Great Lakes to serve the many population centers in the Midwest. Look for a huge boost to come if Chicago garners the 2016 Olympics and strives to make them the “Green Olympics”. Wind turbines off the shore of Chicago will be an almost certainty.
