News Archives

Oct 25, 2011. Eolos Commissioning Celebration was held late last month. Over 300 consortium members, UMN personnel, elected officials, school children and citizens turned out for the event. University President Eric Kaler and DOE Program Managers Jose Zayas as well as others address the crowd, highlighting the importance of this research station and the wind consortium to the university, state and nation. The event concluded with play-by-play pitching of the blades by Clipper Windpower’s Remote Monitoring and Diagnostic Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and letting the wind spin the rotor.

On October 4, 2011 the Wind Engineering Essentials (WEE) visited the Eolos Field Station.  Wind Engineering Essentials is an introductory class taken by senior undergrads and graduate students and the University of Minnesota and is taught in a seminar style.  The students were given a presentation on the background of the Eolos wind research program and a tour of the wind turbine and meterological tower.

A collaborative effort between Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the University of Minnesota (UMN) Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium has been established for high-resolution modeling of offshore wind turbines and farms.  Up until now Eolos' Wind Research Consortium has focused on land-based wind energy.  This expansion into offshore wind energy is significant because offshore wind is a critical piece of the puzzle for reaching the national goal for 20% electricity from wind by 2030. The project objectives are to:

On September 22, 2011 the turbine hub was assembled.  The hub, which is the structure that the blades are attached to, is assembled on the ground before being lifted to the nacelle.