DOE Signs Agreement with Six Wind Turbine Manufacturers to Advance Research
On June 2, 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) signed a two-year collaboration agreement with six leading wind turbine manufacturers to find ways to improve turbine design and production methods. This agreement is intended to further to goals expressed in the DOE’s recently released report entitled “20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030”, which was…
On June 2, 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) signed a two-year collaboration agreement with six leading wind turbine manufacturers to find ways to improve turbine design and production methods. This agreement is intended to further to goals expressed in the DOE’s recently released report entitled “20 Percent Wind Energy by 2030”, which was discussed in the June 2008 Connecting to the Grid. The manufacturers include: GE Energy, Siemens Power Generation, Vestas Wind Systems, Clipper Turbine Works, Suzlon Energy, and Gamesa Corporation. The detailed objectives of the agreement include: improving turbine capacity; creating more reliable components; reducing installation, operations, and maintenance costs; improving siting strategies; developing better standards for turbine certification and generator interconnection; and, improving the training requirements for the wind energy workforce. This agreement is significant because wind experts say that turbines account for 70 percent of a wind farm’s costs. Any reduction in these costs will make wind energy more competitive with conventional energy sources.
