U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory contemplating expansion
The National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable energy laboratory (NREL) is considering nearly quadrupling the number of wind turbines from the 16 that exist at the center now.
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The Boulder Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo., USA) reported on Oct. 31 that the National Wind Technology Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Boulder County is considering nearly quadrupling the number of wind turbines from the 16 that exist at the center, installing up to 30 meteorological towers and constructing more than 60,000 ft2/5,574m2 of lab and conference space.
An environmental assessment must first be conducted on the 305-acre NREL facility northwest of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Public input on the process will run through the end of November.
According to the report, Florence Bocquet, managing director at the University of Colorado's Center for Research and Education in Wind, called the expansion idea at the wind center "huge." Many wind energy companies are hoping to get turbine blades and gear boxes tested and certified at the facility, she said, and providing more opportunities for that to happen would be critical to the growth of the industry.
Sandy Butterfield, chief technology officer at Boulder Wind Power and a former engineer at NREL, said despite the bumps in the road the wind energy industry has experienced in the last few months, the National Wind Technology Center is where the brightest scientists in the sector reside and where the most innovative advancements are made in the industry.
The report says that up to 10 large-scale turbines (rated between 1 MW and 7 MW), up to 10 mid-scale turbines (rated between 100 kW and 1 MW) and up to 40 small wind turbines (rated between 300 watts and 100 kW) could one day dot the landscape at the southeast corner of highways Colo. 128 and Colo. 93.
Plans also call for a 40,000-ft2/3,716m2 wind turbine component research and testing facility, a 25,000-ft2/2,323m2 conference and learning center and a 40,000-square-foot warehouse to support indoor staging of test projects.
Visit Boulder Daily Camera for original report.
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