From: Tom Gray <tgray@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: sci.energy
Date: 16 Nov 92 05:39 PST
Subject: --DOE to Fund Turbine Upgrades
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1466300105:000:6231
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!tgray    Nov 16 05:39:00 1992


/* Written  5:34 am  Nov 16, 1992 by tgray@igc.apc.org in igc:en.energy */
DOE PROPOSES COST-SHARED EFFORTS
TO IMPROVE COMMERCIAL TURBINES
 
The U.S. Department of Energy announced July 23 in the Commerce
Business Daily that it plans to fund a limited number of
government/industry cost-shared projects to upgrade existing
commercial wind turbine designs.
 
According to the announcement, the Value Engineered Turbine (VET)
project is aimed at quickly bolstering U.S. capability to bring
improved turbines to the commercial market.
 
The full text of the Commerce Business Daily announcement follows:
 
VALUE ENGINEERED TURBINE PROJECT
 
Sol 2-205 due August 31, 1992.  Point of contact Jim Fox, Senior
Subcontract Administrator, (303) 231-7806.
 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL), is seeking expressions of interest in,
and comments on, a proposed cost-shared DOE/industry project to re-
engineer commercial wind turbines and broaden their domestic and
international application.
 
Under the project(s), industry subcontractors would value engineer
existing commercial wind turbine designs and perform the necessary
testing to validate the operation of a prototype prior to
deployment of the re-engineered turbines in commercial ventures.
 
Background
 
Over the past 10 years U.S. wind plant operators have gained
considerable knowledge and operating experience with the current
generation of wind turbines in the California windfarms.  The plant
operators have developed a significant body of knowledge regarding
the most economical and reliable design and operating
characteristics of current machines.
 
NREL is publishing this notice to determine the interest level
within the U.S. wind industry or other commercial organizations to
join in a cost-shared value engineering project and also to solicit
comments on the proposed project.  This activity is intended to
complement the longer-term DOE Advanced Wind Turbine Program by
sponsoring activities that will result in the rapid development of
U.S. capability to manufacture wind turbines with a known and well-
documented record of performance, cost and reliability.
 
Project Purpose
 
The purpose of the Value Engineering Turbine (VET) project is to
support industry's efforts to rapidly bring new U.S.-manufactured
turbines to the market.  Offerors selected under the project will
support the re-engineering and fabrication of a single prototype
for testing.  Each subcontract is expected to be completed in 18
months, including a full wind season of validation testing.  DOE
will provide the funding for this project through NREL, and NREL
will provide the subcontract and technical management.
 
In order to be considered for this project, the offeror must have
significant windfarm experience, and the resources to quickly bring
to market a value engineered wind turbine.  Consortia or joint
proposals by industry partnerships are encouraged.  The offeror
must have first-hand operational experience with at least 20 MW of
installed windfarm capacity over the past five years, and must
currently be operating a minimum of 20 units of the type of machine
proposed to upgrade under this project.  The proposed turbine
configuration must have a large, multi-year operational history in
more than one wind environment, with a minimum of 50 MW of
installed capacity.  Wind turbines that are the subject of a
current DOE-sponsored contract will not be considered eligible
under this project.
 
It is not the intent of DOE or NREL to own any components, wind
turbines, or other hardware required in this project.  All hardware
will remain the property of the participant.  It is expected that
the minimum industry cost share required for the VET project will
be 50%.  It is anticipated that approximately $2 million total will
be available to support two or three awards under this project.  It
is anticipated that a formal Letter of Interest (LOI) for the VET
project will be issued by NREL in the fall of 1992.
 
Expressions of Interest
 
DOE, through NREL, would like to receive comments on the proposed
approach to determine the level of interest in the proposed project
and to identify interested respondents to a forthcoming LOI. 
Failure to respond to the notice will not disqualify anyone from
competing when the competitive LOI is published.  However,
responding will assure receipt of the LOI if specifically requested
and any activities related to the LOI, including any pre-proposal
conference.
 
Expressions of interest shall not include detailed plans or
proposals.  However, they should include, at a minimum, the
following information:  (1) comments on the project concept
described in this notice, (2) the name, address, telephone number
and, if available, the facsimile number of a primary contact person
and key collaborators, (3) the potential participants, their
affiliations, their proposed roles and documentation of their
interest in the project, (4) an optional, concise, 250-word
description of the project to be proposed and (5) a statement that
the LOI is or is not requested.  Written response to this notice
should not be lengthy (less than 10 pages) and should be received
by August 31, 1992, and should specifically reference Synopsis
2-205.
 
===============================
 
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has authorized me to offer
an electronic edition of its newsletter, _Wind Energy Weekly_, from
which the above article is excerpted, at no cost.
 
For those of you who have not previously seen excerpts from back issues
on Usenet or Bitnet, the _Weekly_ reports on the outlook for renewable
energy, energy-related environmental issues, and renewable energy
legislation in addition to wind industry trade news.  The electronic
edition normally runs about 10kb in length.
 
If you would like a free electronic subscription, send me an e-mail
request.  Please include information on your position, organization,
and reason for interest in the publication.
 
*******************************************************************
Tom Gray                                 EcoNet/PeaceNet: tgray@igc
Internet/Bitnet: tgray@igc.apc.org            UUCP: uunet!cdp!tgray


Newsgroups: sci.energy