Idaho Wind Plant Gets $16M Loan Guarantee

From the DOE …

Nordic Windpower USA has been offered $16 million in a conditional loan guarantee to support the expansion of its assembly plant in Pocatello, Idaho, to produce its one megawatt wind turbine. DOE Secretary Steven Chu made the announcement July 2. The loan guarantee will be supported through the Recovery Act.

The conditional commitment to Nordic Windpower will support the tooling and commercial scale-up of its Pocatello plant.  Nordic’s proprietary one megawatt wind turbine uses two blades and a patented teeter-hub technology that dampens loads, resulting in a lightweight turbine at least 10% less costly to manufacture, install, operate and maintain than competing systems.

The Nordic wind turbine represents significantly improved technology which enables the turbine blades to flex at the hub, partially dissipating the eccentric loads, or turbulent winds, before they reach the drive train. This makes Nordic’s turbines more reliable and enables them to achieve structural integrity at a lower cost than more rigid designs.

The teeter hub design also makes it possible to deploy two blades, rather than three. The two blade design reduces installation cost, since the blades can be attached to the hub and nacelle on the ground and lifted into place with one single crane operation.

"Nordic's expansion will create new and skilled green jobs to boost the economy and help meet America's growing energy needs with clean wind power," Nordic Windpower CEO Tom Carbone said in a separate statement. The company said it will create more than 75 new skilled jobs at its Pocatello facility.

Read the DOE announcement

Nordic Windpower press release

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