Principle Power Welcomes DOE Investment in Offshore Wind Energy Research Facilities

Seattle, WA (USA), October 26, 2009 – Principle Power, Inc. (“Principle Power”) is pleased to acknowledge the US Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) decision to invest $24 million USD in wind energy research facilities. The funds are a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the recipients include three university-led facilities. The use of proceeds includes research and development on utility-scale and prototype wind turbines, with the goal of improving the performance and reliability of both land-based and offshore wind generation.

Principle Power is a member of the industry consortium DeepCWind, led by the University of Maine, a recipient of one of the DOE awards.  The proposal calls for the University of Maine to investigate offshore deep-water floating wind turbines, receiving up to $8 million to design and deploy two 10-kilowatt and one 100-kilowatt prototypes to be mounted on floating offshore foundations.  The University consortium's research and development plan includes optimization of designs for floating systems by evaluating: (1) options for using more durable, lighter, hybrid composite materials, (2) manufacturability, and (3) deployment logistics. As one of the deep-water foundation technology partners in the consortium, Principle Power will provide a floating foundation to the project using its WindFloat technology.

Conceived by Marine Innovation and Technology and owned by Principle Power, the WindFloat is a patent-pending floating support structure for offshore wind turbines with a simple and elegant design. Innovative features of the WindFloat dampen wave and turbine-induced motion, enabling wind turbines to be sited in previously inaccessible locations where water depth exceeds 50m and wind resources are superior.

“Development of floating offshore wind technologies is essential to energy independence in the Northeast,” said Des FitzGerald of Principle Power. “We have the opportunity to be one of the first offshore deep-water wind deployments ever in the United States and further can prove the viability of floating offshore wind turbines, an essential element to wind energy development in US coastal areas.”