Massachusetts-NREL
Wind Technology Testing Center

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop a world class large wind turbine blade testing center in Boston.

Massachusetts won a competitive grant of $2 million in federal support, plus in-kind technical and operating assistance to help outfit and run a new wind blade testing center. Led by Governor Patrick, Massachusetts assembled a team of local, state, university and federal leaders to win the federal government’s assistance in establishing this center, which could attract new wind technology and other renewable energy technology companies to the region.

The Commonwealth partnership that applied for the CRADA in November 2006 to DOE/NREL includes the Renewable Energy Trust/Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Renewable Energy Research Laboratory (RERL) at UMass Amherst, and the Executive Offices of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED), and Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA).

The Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC ) will offer a full suite of certification tests for turbineblades up to 90m in length. WTTC will also offer the latest wind turbine blade testing and prototype development methodologies in order to help the wind industry deploy the next generation of onshore and offshore wind turbine technologies. NREL is providing the technical expertise and testing hardware for WTTC under its Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.

The Testing Center will be a large  industrial building in which wind turbine blades will be tested for structural integrity and durability. This is critical to ensure the competitiveness of U.S. wind turbine and blade manufacturers.  It will also be a critical element in helping to develop the off-shore wind turbine technology required to tap Massachusetts’ substantial off-shore wind resources.

Location of this testing center is 100 Terminal Street, Charlestown, Boston, MA; Boston Autoport property owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority and operated by Diversified Automotive. WTTC is uniquely positioned on an existing deep water port (all large blades can be shipped via water to this site) and near interstate highways. In addition, WTTC is close to research and academic centers in Boston and only 15 minutes from Boston Logan International Airport.

The Testing Center will primarily be in the business of providing certification tests for new blade designs and reliability testing for existing blade designs for wind turbine manufacturers.  Each of these tests is done to a single turbine blade. A full endurance (fatigue) test takes 3-4 months to complete while a static (ultimate strength and resonance) test takes 1-2 weeks. The facility will be able to test two to three blades at a time.  As a result, 6-9 blades per year can be tested (endurance) along with a higher number of static tests (to be determined by industry needs). Each blade can be up to 90 meters long and can be shipped to the facility mostly by water and if required by road.