This week the US Department of Energy announced that they will award the state of Massachusetts $25 million to accelerate development of the state’s Wind Technology Testing Center. This investment will create hundreds of new permanent green jobs as well as employment during the facilitie’s construction.
State Energy and Environmental AffairsSecretary Ian Bowles joined Secretary Chu and Governor Patrick for the announcement at the Autoport in Charlestown, the eventual site of wind energy testing center.
“Not only will it create jobs and help us achieve energy independence, it will mean cleaner air, cleaner water and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.”
Construction of the facility will begin in September, and will be complete by the end of 2010. The state is now concluding the final design for the testing center, while DOE completes the environmental review and public consultation process.
The new center will be the first commercial large blade test facility in the nation, allowing for testing of turbine blades longer than 50 meters, which currently can be done in Europe but not in the United States – putting American manufacturers at a disadvantage.
More research and development into longer blades will quicken the creation of large-scale offshore wind power facilities. The facility will attract companies to design, manufacture, and test their blades in the United States. It will also promote the growth of American companies who are part of the supply chain for wind turbine production – including fiber glass distributors, advanced composite materials manufacturers and others.
The location of the testing center, at the BostonAutoport in Boston Harbor, provides a shovel ready site featuring proximity to substantial offshore wind resources, truck access, a rail spur and a 1200 ft. dock for transporting blades from ocean going vessels.
This announcement brings the total commitment of Recovery Act funding by the Department of Energy for wind development to $118 million.
In addition to today’s announcement, Massachusetts-based companies have been selected to receive approximately $1 million in additional wind funding under a competitive funding opportunity announcement to address market and deployment challenges identified in DOE’s 2008 report: “20% Wind Energy by 2030.
The Cadmus Group, Inc. (Watertown, MA) – Analysis Tool for Distributed Wind Technologies(Watertown, MA) – $476,831
Consensus Building Institute, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) – Building State Capacity to Advance Wind Energy Through the Best Practices of Collaborative Planning and Siting – $99,785
Power Advocate, Inc. (Boston, MA) – Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges to Wind Power in the U.S. – $100,000
Sustainable EnergyAdvantage, LLC (Framingham, MA) – New England Wind Energy Education Project – $99,746
University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA) – Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering Course Development – $252,687
