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City builds toward alternative energy sector for job
creation
New Bedford eyed as one of six sites in US for national
wind turbine blade test facility
 New
Bedford, MA – With a continuing national need for
research into the realm of wind-powered energy, a site
selection committee has dwindled a list of potential
large-scale blade testing facility sites down to only
two in the Bay State: New Bedford and Boston.
“We are doing all we can to attract new companies and
real jobs for our people. Having New Bedford selected as
a finalist for the National Wind Test Blade Facility is
further recognition of the developments taking shape
here,” said Mayor Scott W. Lang.
The New Bedford site, adjacent to the Shuster
Corporation building, features more than 10 acres of
land and more than 600 feet of water frontage, essential
to the loading and off-loading of turbine blades that
measure up to 220 feet in length and 20 feet wide. The
blades will be tested in a horizontal position mounted
on stands inside an industrial building.
The selection committee, made up of several
collaborative organizations including the UMass
Amherst’s Renewable Energy Research Laboratory (RERL),
the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources and the
Massachusetts Office of Business Development, judged New
Bedford to be one of two top sites after considering
over a dozen in the commonwealth during the process.
Although other states are also in the running for the
testing facility, RERL has identified Massachusetts as
having a number of advantages over other states due to
the UMASS system’s current extensive research into wind
energy and the region’s excellent offshore wind power
potential due to being surrounded by water.
The proposed blade testing facility will lead the way to
designing new turbine standards, helping to reduce
machine cost and financial risk, and providing a way to
test multiple blades to keep up with the huge growth in
turbine sizes over the last few years.
With only one blade testing facility in the U.S. at the
National Wind Technology Center in Boulder, Colorado,
which has far exceeded its own one-blade-at-a-time
testing capacity, NBEDC Executive Director Matthew
Morrissey said, “locating the facility in New Bedford
would not only create a minimum of up to 20 jobs in the
city, but it would also continue to lay the groundwork
for additional growth in the alternative energy industry
sector.”
“Having the facility in New Bedford could lead to blade
manufacturing companies making their way to our city, as
well as offshore wind turbine services and turbine
component testing companies,” said Morrissey. “It could
bring additional academic research opportunities,
additional services to be provided to the offshore wind
industry, and the testing of wind turbine drive trains,
among many other related services,” he continued.
In a letter to the Massachusetts Office of Business
Development regarding the city’s positions as one of the
remaining sites being mulled for the project, Mayor
Scott W. Lang reiterated that New Bedford’s proposed
site features “a deep-water port with depths of 30 feet”
as well a hurricane barrier stretching from the south
end of the city to Fairhaven that allows the harbor to
be completely “accessible” to the proposal “while
remaining one of the safest havens on the eastern
seaboard”.
The proposed blade-testing facility will include two 220
foot test stands with the space to expand accommodating
up to 330 foot blades, as well as additional office and
conference room space, a pump and machine room,
equipment storage and at least one acre of space
available for the delivery of additional services.
The U.S. Energy Department’s
National Renewable Energy
Laboratory, sponsoring the project, reported that
the decision on the definite site for the proposed
facility, which besides the two in Massachusetts, also
includes Ohio, Virginia, Texas, Iowa and Maine, will
likely be made next month.
Also see related Standard-Times story, December 18, 2006 |
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