This is an excerpt from the Fourth Quarter 2011 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter.
"Broadly deploying wind power and developing a skilled workforce to design, install, and service these high-tech turbines will help us diversify our energy portfolio, reduce carbon pollution, and create thousands of jobs over the next decade," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Projects like the research station at the University of Minnesota provide hands-on training for talented students and help advance the technologies necessary to achieve the Administration's goal of generating 80% of our nation's electricity from clean energy resources by 2035."
More than 300 participants that included DOE representatives, industry partners, wind energy researchers, public leaders, university administrators, and community members attended the commissioning ceremony and listened to guest speakers that included University President Eric Kaler, DOE Wind Program Manager Jose Zayas, and Clipper Windpower's Senior Vice President Amir Mikhail, highlight the importance of this research station and the wind consortium to the university, state, and nation.
Objectives for the new turbine include identifying methods to harvest more energy from a wind turbine; improving wind farm design; minimizing a turbine's impact on radar; reducing turbine noise; preventing icy build-up on blades; developing new approaches to monitoring turbine performance and improving turbine blade structure.
In addition to providing research opportunities and training for future wind power engineers and technicians, the turbine will be connected to the grid to provide green power for local communities.
For more information, read the DOE Energy Blog or visit the Eolos Wind Energy Research Station website.