An Industry/Academe Consortium for Achieving 20% wind by 2030 through Cutting-Edge Research and Workforce Training
- Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
In January 2010, the University of Minnesota, along with academic and industry project partners, began work on a four year project to establish new facilities and research in strategic areas of wind energy necessary to move the nation towards a goal of 20% wind energy by 2030. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy with funds made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. $7.9M of funds were provided by DOE and $3.1M was provided through matching funds. The project was organized into three Project Areas. Project Area 1 focused on design and development of a utility scale wind energy research facility to support research and innovation. The project commissioned the Eolos Wind Research Field Station in November of 2011. The site, located 20 miles from St. Paul, MN operates a 2.5MW Clipper Liberty C-96 wind turbine, a 130-ft tall sensored meteorological tower and a robust sensor and data acquisition network. The site is operational and will continue to serve as a site for innovation in wind energy for the next 15 years. Project Areas 2 involved research on six distinct research projects critical to the 20% Wind Energy by 2030 goals. The research collaborations involved faculty from two universities, over nine industry partners and two national laboratories. Research outcomes include new knowledge, patents, journal articles, technology advancements, new computational models and establishment of new collaborative relationships between university and industry. Project Area 3 focused on developing educational opportunities in wind energy for engineering and science students. The primary outcome is establishment of a new graduate level course at the University of Minnesota called Wind Engineering Essentials. The seminar style course provides a comprehensive analysis of wind energy technology, economics, and operation. The course is highly successful and will continue to be offered at the University. The vision of U.S. DOE to establish unique, open-access research facilities and creation of university-industry research collaborations in wind energy were achieved through this project. The University of Minnesota, through the establishment of the Eolos Wind Energy Consortium and the Eolos Wind Research Field Station continue to develop new research collaborations with industry partners.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Wind and Water Technologies Office (EE-4W)
- Contributing Organization:
- 3M; Clipper Windpower; Lockheed Martin; Syracuse University; WindLogics
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0002980
- OSTI ID:
- 1211620
- Report Number(s):
- Final report: DOE-UMN-EE0002980-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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