Bill Scanlon, NREL May 05, 2011 | 19 Comments Blades longer than
a basketball court, a tower the length of a football field, the
3-megawatt Eco 100 is the latest — and largest — wind turbine
behemoth erected at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC)
near Boulder, Colo. Built by French power-generation company,
Alstom, the Eco 100 is being tested at NWTC, part of the U.S.
Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL), so it can be certified for use in the United States. Its
certification will mean good-paying jobs in the United States
for years to come, and what is learned during testing will bring
the nation closer to DOE's target of 20 percent wind energy by
2030. Alstom paid for the project and will benefit from the
information the tests provide, but NREL and America as a whole
also will benefit, speakers at the April 26 Turbine Dedication
ribbon-cutting said. The cooperative research and development
agreement signed last May between Alstom Power and NREL is being
extended to includ