Wind Technology Testing Center

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) broke ground on the world class Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC) in Charlestown in October 2009.

In June 2007, Massachusetts won a competitive $2 million federal NREL grant, plus in-kind technical and operating assistance to help outfit and run a new wind blade testing center. Led by Governor Patrick, and  the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs we continued to advance that led us to secure assistance from the federal government’s stimulus funding to construct the WTTC facility.
 
The WTTC will attract new wind technology and other renewable energy technology companies to Massachusetts, creating jobs in Massachusetts. With construction underway, more than 70 jobs have been created so far, and in total the project will create 250 to 300 construction jobs, 30 design / administrative jobs.

When completed the WTTC will provide three test stands and 100 tons overhead bridge crane capacity and a full suite of certification tests for turbine blades up to 90m in length, including static and fatigue testing, blade material testing, dual axis static or fatigue testing, and quality testing. In addition as part of its effort to help the wind industry deploy the next generation of onshore and offshore wind turbine technologies, the WTTC will offer the latest wind turbine blade testing and prototype development methodologies, research and development partnerships, blade repair capabilities and hands-on workforce training.
 
NREL is providing the technical expertise and testing hardware for WTTC under its Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative.
 
The WTTC will provide certification tests for new blade designs and reliability testing for existing blade designs for wind turbine manufacturers.  Each test is conducted on a single turbine blade. A full endurance (fatigue) test takes three to four months to complete while a static (ultimate strength and resonance) test takes one to two weeks. The facility will be able to test three blades at a time. 

The up to 90 meter-long blades will be shipped to the facility primarily by water, or shorter blades can be shipped by road if required. The WTTC is uniquely positioned on an existing deep water port and near interstate highways. In addition, WTTC is close to numerous world-class clean energy research and academic centers in the Boston area, and about 15 minutes from Boston Logan International Airport.