Illinois Institute of Technology to Lead Wind Energy Research Consortium

Department of Energy Invests Up to $8 Million for University-Led Effort to
Improve Wind Generation

CHICAGO, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu
has announced new investments in three university-led wind energy research
facilities that will enhance the United States' leadership role in testing and
producing the most advanced and efficient wind turbines in the world. An
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) led consortium has been selected for up
to $8 million to support university research and development programs, and
will include partners from private industry, state and local governments, and
other universities.

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Funding is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the research
will focus on improving land-based and offshore wind turbine performance and
reliability, as well as provide career educational opportunities for
undergraduate and graduate students in wind energy technologies. The projects
selected today support the Obama Administration's focus on increasing clean
energy generation, while supporting the long-term development of a clean
energy workforce.

"Wind power has the potential to provide 20 percent of our electricity and
create hundreds of thousands of jobs," said Secretary Chu. "We need to
position the United States as the clear leader in this industry, or watch
these high-paying jobs go overseas. The investment we're making today will
help ensure that America has both the talent and the technology we need to
compete."

The IIT-led consortium members will perform focused research on critical wind
energy challenges identified in the "20% Wind Energy by 2030" report,
including wind technology challenge, grid system integration, and workforce
challenge. The university consortium's research and development plan includes
advanced concepts for rotor control and drive train control, robust sensors
for blades, and improved aero elastic models to improve wind turbine
performance and reliability. The plan has been created under the direction of
IIT's Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER), and involves
the participation of eleven faculty and more than two dozen Ph.D. students at
the university. IIT Henry R. Linden Professor of Energy Hamid Arastoopour is
director of WISER.

"Illinois Institute of Technology's consortium is pleased to have been chosen
to help advance wind energy for the nation," said IIT President John Anderson.
"The combination of research and academic opportunities at IIT and its
academic consortium partners, in conjunction with industry, will help the
United States be at the forefront of this technology."

Chicago is quickly becoming a center for wind energy research in the United
States. The IIT-led wind energy consortium will work with world-leading,
Chicago-based wind energy developer Invenergy, to procure and install a 1.5MW
GE wind turbine and perform turbine reliability studies. The proposed
installation site for the GE wind turbine is adjacent to Marseilles, Illinois.
Invenergy's extensive experience in deploying large numbers of wind turbines
will help the wind consortium conduct a world-class wind energy research and
development. The consortium will also work with the world-leading small wind
turbine manufacturer, Viryd Technologies, to procure and install an 8KW Viryd
wind turbine at IIT campus, and deliver the second turbine at one of the IIT's
engineering laboratories to perform turbine reliability studies.

"IIT has been a leader in electric power research and education since the
1930s," said Bodine Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Electrical and
Computer Engineering Department Mohammad Shahidehpour, who is principal
investigator for the consortium. "We are excited to continue this work,
together with our consortium partners, to meet the energy challenges of the
21st century." Shahidehpour is also currently leading a DOE-funded Perfect
Power project which integrates renewable energy into a ground-breaking
approach to electricity distribution and management, as well as several other
research projects focusing on wind energy integration, deployment and
operation.

The close proximity of IIT's turbine in Marseilles to an existing wind farm
provides an ideal opportunity to study turbine-to-turbine wake interaction,
wind farm interaction, and wind energy efficiencies. IIT will develop and
offer wind energy courses addressing the technical, operational, social, and
environmental aspects of wind energy in consultation with industry.
Fellowships will be offered annually to masters and undergraduate students in
wind energy engineering fields of study.

Other university consortium members include the world-renowned University of
Chicago, Southern Illinois University which is a leading university in clean
energy research, and four internationally prestigious universities with a
strong wind energy program: University of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain),
University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
(Greece), and Polytechnic University of Bucharest (Romania). Faculty and
students from the international university members will be invited to IIT to
attend consortium workshops in the United States and to share their innovative
ideas with their American counterparts. The industry consortium members
include all types of wind energy stakeholders: wind turbine companies (GE
Energy, Viryd Technologies, Acciona Wind Energy USA), wind energy developers
(Invenergy, Pampa Energia Eolica (Brazil), PS Wind Management (Romania)),
power transmission system operators (ComEd/Exelon, ISO New England, British
Columbia Transmission Corporation), wind energy control devices and software
companies (Boeing Advanced Global Services & Support, Honeywell, Dakota Power,
EnerNex Corporation, SmartSignal Corporation, Innovation Technology
Applications Company) and energy system consultants (Keyworks, Electric Power
Research Institute, AREVA T&D, Intelligent Power Solutions, McCoy Energy,
Wiedman Power System Consulting).

The University of Minnesota and University of Maine were the other two
institutions who received grants for wind energy research projects.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,500
students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design,
humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused
curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship,
to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students
from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to
society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.

SOURCE Illinois Institute of Technology

Evan Venie, +1-312-567-3202, venie@iit.edu, or Jeffrey D. Bierig,
+1-312-567-5057, bierig@iit.edu, both of Illinois Institute of Technology