Clipper Commissions First Production 2.5 MW LIberty Wind Turbines at Steel Winds Project Near Buffalo, New York
New Liberty wind turbines operate at full power at rated wind speed, meeting Clipper performance expectations.
Carpinteria, California (PRWEB) June 5, 2007 -- Clipper Windpower Plc today announced that the commissioning process for eight of its first full-production 2.5 megawatt (MW) Liberty wind turbines recently installed at the Steel Winds Project, near Buffalo, New York, is complete. Based on Clipper's preliminary performance data, the Liberty wind turbines are meeting Clipper's performance expectations.
"We've been extremely pleased with the start-up results of these first Liberty turbines," said Dr. Amir Mikhail, Clipper's Senior Vice President and Chief Design Engineer. "While the commissioning process included the inconsequential number of minor start-up challenges, there were no material deficiencies in the production turbine design. At the same time, we are very pleased with the speed at which our team reacted, implemented solutions where needed, and integrated lessons learned into both the existing Clipper fleet and production process.
"Since commissioning, the Liberty turbines have operated at full rated power and above when achieving Liberty's 11.5 m/s rated wind speed," he added.
Completed in late 2006, the eight Liberty wind turbines were among the first to be manufactured at Clipper's Cedar Rapids, Iowa manufacturing and assembly facility. Delivered to the Steel Winds, New York project site earlier this year, the project has been under construction by co-owner/developers UPC Energy and BQ Energy.
"The Liberty turbines are up and running at full capacity," said Paul Gaynor, President and CEO of UPC Wind. "We're quite satisfied with their performance. We're also pleased that this important project has helped to introduce this new generation of wind turbines to the market."
The 2.5 MW Liberty wind turbine will undergo full IEC compatible power curve testing later this year at the 100 megawatt Endeavor wind project site in southwestern Iowa, which wil l provide site conditions more conducive to the required, controlled IEC standards which require an anemometer placement upwind in flat terrain where no site calibration is required. Current Clipper power curve testing at the Steel Winds site is based on nacelle anemometer calibration; due to the project's close proximity to Lake Erie, an upwind anemometer placement is not feasible.
The Liberty Series wind turbines, designed to address current industry gearbox and other component issues, mitigates gearbox stresses through Clipper's patented Quantum DriveTM Distributed Generation Power-train. The Clipper units also offer proprietary variable speed operation in a more efficient manner than today's standard wind turbines. Clipper's permanent magnet generator technology delivers higher power-train efficiency, and a 2-ton on-board crane simplifies maintenance and significantly reduces associated costs. The 2.5 MW Liberty turbine installation can be accomplished with a crane sized for most commercial 1.5 MW units. At a 2.5 MW capacity, the Liberty machine is the largest wind turbine built in the United States.
About Clipper Windpower
Clipper Windpower, www.clipperwind.com, is a rapidly growing company engaged in wind energy technology, turbine manufacturing, and wind project development. With offices in California, Colorado, Maryland, Mexico, Denmark and the U.K., and a ISO9001:2000 QMS Certified, 215,000 square foot manufacturing and assembly facility located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the company designs advanced wind turbines, manufactures its 2.5-MW Liberty wind turbine and actively develops wind power generating projects in the Americas and Europe. Clipper is a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Clipper's ticker symbol is CWP.
The ordinary shares of Clipper Windpower Plc are traded on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange and are not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Such shares may not be offered or sold to residents of the United States or to persons acting on their behalf, or to other persons who are "United States Persons" within the meaning of Regulation S as promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, unless such shares have been registered under the Securities Act or there is an available exemption from registration.
For more information contact:
Mary McCann-Gates
Director, Global Communications
Clipper Windpower Inc.
6305 Carpinteria Avenue, Suite 300
Carpinteria, CA 93013
(main) 805.690.3275
(direct) 805.576.1323
(fax) 805.899.1115
(mobile) 661.301.0400
mmccann @ clipperwind.com
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