The next-generation wind turbines and drive trains will be tested by the Clemson University Restoration Institute.

The Clemson University Restoration Institute and its partners have received a US$ 45 million grant from the US Department of Energy, combined with US$ 53 million of matching funds, to build and operate a large-scale wind turbine drive train testing facility at the institute’s research campus on the former Navy base. The testing facility will be capable of full-scale highly accelerated testing of advanced drive train systems for wind turbines in the 5MW to 15MW range, with a 30 per cent overload capacity. Planning and construction of the facility will begin in the first quarter of 2010 with a targeted operational date in the third quarter of 2012.