Wind Power Initiative Launched at HVCFI

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CENTER FOR INNOVATION LAUNCHES WIND POWER INITIATIVE CONCENTRATING ON RESEARCH, TESTING AND CERTIFICATION
Community colleges to help turn Hudson Valley epicenter of wind energy development

LAKE KATRINE, N.Y. (APRIL 22, 2009) In honor of Earth Day, the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation (HVCFI), the region’s nonprofit virtual technology accelerator will launch its new Wind Power Initiative (WPI) at its upcoming Entrepreneurs Breakfast on April 22 in the Lake Katrine location. The breakfast takes place between 8-10 a.m. at 703 Grant Avenue in Lake Katrine.

Les Neumann, managing director of the HVCFI, said the initiative will be an addition to the non-profits current Cleantech Accelerator Program (CAP) started in 2007. Foreign and domestic companies are already participating in HVCFI’s Cleantech Accelerator Program (CAP) and have joined the wind power initiative. Some of the CAP technologies currently growing under the mentorship of the HVCFI include: solar, hydrogen, pollution control and wind. The impetus for a dedicated WPI arose due to the increasing number of wind turbine technologies that had applied to the CAP and required more focused attention.

“The timing is right. The Hudson Valley is suited to become the global epicenter of distributed wind energy development,” said Don Perry, LEED-AP, a green business strategist and consultant to the WPI. “The WPI will concentrate exclusively on late stage-technology development (full-scale pilot deployment), research, testing, siting, data acquisition and analysis leading to the certification of wind energy systems focusing specifically on small wind, (wind turbines in the 1kW to 100kW range) and medium wind (wind turbines from 100kW up to utility scale 2mW) technologies. “The HVCFI has formed a significant knowledge base of technical expertise in the area of small and medium wind technology, business commercialization and intellectual property development,” Perry said.

The WPI plans to conduct wind turbine training, testing and analysis at selected community colleges throughout the Hudson Valley, including Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster, along with its primary academic partner, the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Les Neumann stated that; “The goal is to provide students with real world experience working with real wind energy systems and help them become expert in their design, installation, testing, and maintenance, as well as helping to push the technology envelope further and create new wind turbine generators of even greater power production, efficiency and cost competitiveness. Moreover, for companies that participate, the WPI provides an excellent introduction to the potential of the Hudson Valley as a location which is in close proximity to the largest concentration of end-users (New York City and the Northeast corridor), has a qualified and trained workforce and is ready to support manufacturing, distribution and headquarters facilities,” said Neumann.
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A major thrust of the WPI will be establishing test bed facilities throughout the region to assist developers in meeting new Small Wind Certification protocols that will be announced shortly by the American Wind Energy Association. Becoming AWEA certified is a critical component, towards sanctioning products and services to be sold here in the United States and globally. The WPI is a cornerstone initiative and outcropping of the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation that can rapidly matriculate to full scale commercialization including manufacturing, distribution, workforce and economic development for the region.

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