Sen. Al Franken and Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman are in Rosemount today touring the University of Minnesota’s wind energy research station.
The research station includes a 415-foot, 2.5-megawatt wind turbine and a 426-foot meteorological research tower and state-of-the-art wind instruments and sensors.
The University of Minnesota received a U.S. Department of Energy wind energy research grant in 2009; the $7.9 million award is for an academy-industry consortium focused on wind energy research and education activities, and includes construction of the 2.5-megawatt Clipper Liberty wind turbine.
Partners with the University on the project are:
- Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power
- Syracuse University
- Dakota County Technical College
- Mesabi Range Community and Technical College
- 3M
- Barr Engineering
- Clipper Windpower LLC.
- United Technologies Research Center
- Lockheed Martin
- Micron Optics
- Ryan Companies
- WindLogics
- Xcel Energy
- Sandia National Laboratories
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
