Ricardo markets wind expertise
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British automotive consultancy Ricardo is marketing its wind-energy expertise with LMS, a Belgium-based testing-systems specialist, through a new North American innovation and development centre.
The North American Wind Energy Innovation and Development Center is an umbrella organisation through which equipment suppliers, government agencies, utilities and other renewable-energy stakeholders can access facilities available at Ricardo’s Detroit Engineering Center in Van Buren Township and LMS North America’s engineering offices in Troy, both of which are in Michigan.
Services will include individual component and systems-level design, development and integration, as well as software-based modelling and simulation, and physical testing of new and legacy systems in the lab or field.
According to US Department of Energy estimates, the US wind-energy sector will need to generate nearly 1.16 billion megawatts of electricity in 2030 to meet a 20 per cent scenario, up from 35,000 megawatts today.
The incremental investment in wind-power generation required to meet that target is $43bn, or two per cent more than the cost of meeting future energy demand with no new investment in wind power. According to the American Wind Energy Assoication, currently 36 states have utility-scale wind projects.
