MORGANTOWN -- A regional partnership that includes West Virginia University has filed a proposal to establish a major wind turbine drivetrain test facility in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The proposal responds to a $45 million federal grant for a facility that would test 5- to 15-megawatt wind turbines.
“As you look at the elements that have to come together, the rotors and generators and power electronics control systems, this facility would work on the different components and understand how to make them more efficient, more resilient to failure,” said Terri L. Marts, interim director of the Advanced Energy Initiative at WVU.
The turbines the facility is designed to test are very large.
Turbines at the Mountaineer Wind Energy Center in Tucker and Preston counties are 1.5 MW; those at the newer NedPower Mount Storm facility in Grant County are 2 MW.
“That technology has been getting to larger sizes,” Marts said. “The size of wind turbines will be increasing, especially as you place them offshore.”
The proposal incorporates several elements that will help WVU win bigger research contracts, Marts said, in that it makes new use of existing capabilities and, at the same time, leverages regional partnerships.
Offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the funding aims to create lasting economic impact.
The WVU team proposal addresses that goal by establishing its facility at a brownfield site in southwestern Pennsylvania.
But the proposal faces tough competition, including a consortium centered in recession-ravaged Michigan.
Even if the WVU team is not awarded this funding, Marts said, the partnerships formed in the proposal process will be valuable for future projects.
The announcement is expected in October, according to grants.gov.
