US funds research into better, lighter wind turbines

A half-dozen research projects across the US will be working over the next two years to try and develop lighter, better and more efficient wind turbines.

Reducing the weight of wind turbine components and making turbines easier to operate and maintain would help cut the cost of wind energy, according to the US Department of Energy (DOE). In hopes of achieving that goal, the department is awarding up to $7.5 million to six projects in four states working to develop next-generation drivetrains for wind turbines.

Drivetrains, which include a turbine’s gearbox and generator, are at the heart of the turbine and are responsible for producing electricity from the rotation of the blade.

“Developing innovative drivetrain technologies will allow US manufacturers to build larger, more cost-effective and more efficient wind turbines than any in operation today,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

These early research and development projects will focus on reducing the cost of wind energy by increasing component reliability or redesigning drivetrains to eliminate the need for some components altogether. For example, direct-drive generators eliminate the need for a gearbox, which reduces weight, eliminates moving parts, and reduces maintenance costs. Increased component reliability means fewer operations and maintenance costs over the lifetime of a wind turbine. Other projects receiving funding will work to increase the amount of energy drivetrains can produce or help develop drivetrain designs that minimize the use of rare earth materials.

Each of the six projects will receive up to $700,000 to first conduct technology cost and readiness assessments. After six months, several projects will be selected for award negotiations of up to an additional $2 million each over 18 months. Projects selected for phase-two funding will conduct performance tests of the specific drivetrain components.

The six projects include:

• Advanced Magnet Lab (Palm Bay, Florida), which is working to develop an innovative superconducting direct-drive generator for large wind turbines.
• Boulder Wind Power (Boulder, Colorado), which will test an innovative permanent magnet-based direct-drive generator to validate performance and reliability of a large utility-scale turbine.
• Clipper Windpower (Carpinteria, California), which will develop and test a unique drivetrain design that enables increased serviceability over conventional gearboxes and is scalable to large-capacity turbines.
• Dehlsen Associates (Santa Barbara, California), which will design and test components of an innovative direct-drive concept. The proposed drivetrain configuration eliminates the need for gearboxes, power electronics, transformers, and rare earth materials. The design could also work for marine hydrokinetic — or ocean power — devices.
• GE Global Research (Niskayuna, New York), which will design and perform component testing for a 10-megawatt direct-drive generator using low-temperature superconductivity technology.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, Colorado), which is working to optimize and test a hybrid design that combines the advantages of geared and direct-drives through an improved single-stage gearbox and a non-permanent magnet generator that reduces the need for rare earth materials.