Alstom and three U.S. research institutions have been awarded a $4.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to research and develop control systems and integrated sensors that increase energy production and lower the capital cost of offshore wind turbines, especially those based on advanced floating substructures.

The research will focus on development and integration of new offshore wind turbine control strategies and the integration of technologies in an advanced floating foundation. It will support the development of a 6 MW offshore wind turbine tailored to specific conditions of U.S. waters.

The Alstom project will be conducted in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory National Wind Technology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Ships and Platforms Flow, and Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering Research Center.

The project will include validation at Alstom’s existing ECO 86 1.67 MW and ECO 100 3 MW units and will take place over five years at Alstom offices in Virginia, NWTC’s facility in Colorado, MIT’s lab in Massachusetts and Texas Tech’s research facility in Texas.

The award was part of more than $43 million of grants to 41 projects announced by DOE September 8 to lower the cost of energy and shorten the timeline for deploying offshore wind energy systems by speeding technology innovations and removing market barriers. DOE awarded 19 offshore wind technology development projects $26.5 million and 22 market barrier removal projects $16.5 million.

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