VATIS UPDATE Article

Bergey Windpower, the United States, recently announced a new product, the Excel 15 wind turbine. This innovative turbine is anticipated to be 40% more efficient than Bergey’s 10-kW turbine, produce 85% more energy, and be sold at a similar price point. These factors lead to a significant reduction in levelized cost of energy (LCOE), the benchmark of competitiveness for energy generation technologies.

Over a three-year period, the advanced technology was developed with support from the US Department of Energy (DOE), under the Wind Energy Technologies Office’s Distributed Wind Competitiveness Im-provement Project (CIP). The CIP is a periodic solicitation funded by DOE and administered by its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Manufacturers of small and medium-sized wind turbines are awarded cost-shared contracts via a competitive process to optimize their designs for increased energy production, develop advanced manufacturing processes for reduced hardware costs, and perform turbine testing for certification to national performance and safety standards.