EU announces research infrastructures on wind, solar energy

(ADPnews) - Nov 30, 2010 - The European Commission said yesterday it plans to develop a wind research facility in Denmark and a concentrated solar power installation in Spain.

The WindScanner facility in Denmark will have the capacity to produce detailed maps of wind conditions at a wind farm covering several square kilometres, helping for more efficient, stronger and lighter wind turbines. The facility will be in operation from 2013 and costs will be between EUR 45 million and EUR 60 million (USD 59m-79m).

WindScanner will be operated by the Riso DTU National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy near Roskilde, leading a consortium with six other partners, from Germany, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal.

The solar research infrastructure EU-SOLARIS at the Advanced Technological Centre for Renewable Energy in Tabernas, Almeria will focus on developing new technologies for concentrated solar power and has a construction cost of about EUR 80 million. Other complementary sites at several leading European laboratories – in Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Germany – will be part of the new research infrastructure.

The EU's plans for research infrastructure also feature the construction of a nuclear research reactor in Belgium.

"These facilities will enable ground-breaking research and innovation and ultimately they could help to secure the EU's future energy supply," said European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.311)

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