Clemson U. Wins Grant to Develop Giant Turbines

Clemson University has received the largest research grant in its history to create a wind-turbine facility in Charleston, S.C., reports the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail.

The grant — $45-million from the U.S. Department of Energy, plus $53-million in matching funds — will support research on giant wind turbines, which could produce five to 15 megawatts each. The biggest turbines built by colleges now produce less than two megawatts.

The facility will be in “a former Navy warehouse adjacent to existing rail and ship-handling infrastructure,” the newspaper says, “and will be capable of full-scale, highly accelerated testing of advanced drive-train systems.”