Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected projects totaling up to $8 million to develop next-generation wind turbine drivetrain technologies that will facilitate the continued growth of wind turbines for both land-based tall wind and offshore applications. These projects will develop more efficient, smaller, and lighter-weight generators that will lower costs and make wind power more affordable. To learn more about wind turbine drivetrain technologies, see our blog.

Each of the selected projects will receive up to $500,000 to design a wind turbine generator that can be scaled up to at least 10 megawatts to capitalize on the trend of larger, more powerful wind turbines, especially for offshore applications.

One project is developing a “direct drive” permanent magnet generator design that is smaller, lighter, less expensive, more reliable, more efficient, and uses less rare earth content than conventional gearbox designs.