The Us Department Of Energy Wind Turbine Development Program

The development of technologically-advanced wind turbines continues to be a high priority of the U.S. wind industry. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is sponsoring a range of projects that assist the wind industry to design, develop, and test new wind turbines. The overall goal is to develop turbines that can compete with conventional electric generation with a cost of energy (COE) of 5 cents/kWh at 5.8 m/s (13 mph sites) by the mid-1990s and with a cost of energy of 4 cents/kWh or less at 5.8 m/s sites by the year 2000. These goals will be supported through the DOE Turbine Development Program. The Turbine Development Program uses a two-path approach. The first path assists U.S. industry to develop and integrate innovative technologies into utility-grade wind turbines for the near term (mid-1990s). The second path assists industry to develop a new generation of turbines for the year 2000. This paper describes present and planned projects under the Turbine Development Program.