US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu, announced USD 45 million in funds for Clemson University, to be used to finance next generation wind turbine research. A facility for this purpose is going to be built, for enhancing performance, durability and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines.

The Large Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing facility, as it's called, will allow for testing of drivetrains for wind turbines with 5-15 MW of capacity. This means, testing and research will be done on future wind turbines reaching more than the currently largest wind turbine in development with 10 MW of capacity, such as Clipper Wind's Britannia Project. Better drivetrains will improve US competitiveness in the wind energy market, lower energy costs and allow for a more rapid growth and deployment of wind energy.

[source: US DoE , image: Ecotecnia]