Intertek Opens Test Center for Small Wind Turbines
29 Apr 2010
New center of excellence is the only North American facility operated by an OSHA accredited NRTL capable of providing small wind turbine and component certifications for growing wind market.
Chicago, IL Intertek (LSE: ITRK), a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, announced the opening of an open air test site for small wind turbines. The test site in Otisco, NY, together with Intertek’s nearby Cortland, NY lab, is the only wind testing facility in North America that is operated by an OSHA recognized Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory capable of providing small wind turbine system and electrical component certifications. Third party certification, including Intertek’s ETL Mark for the US, Canada and Europe, demonstrates the compliance to national and international safety standards.
Government incentive programs for clean and renewable energy are a key driver in the rapidly growing international wind power market. Intertek tests wind turbines and provides data for program managers to determine product eligibility for incentive programs. As a recognized third party testing company Intertek increases sales opportunities for manufacturers by providing verification of compliance with national and international wind turbine efficiency, performance, and safety requirements.
“Intertek’s new small wind test center is significant to both buyers and sellers of small wind turbines,” said Brian Kramak, Director, Energy Services at Intertek. “Buyers of wind turbines have reliable third-party verification of important safety, acoustic and performance data. Sellers of wind turbines are able to demonstrate compliance to regulatory requirements and incentive program requirements.”
Intertek will test and certify small wind turbines for durability and performance according to the new AWEA 9.1 Small Wind Turbine Safety and Performance standard, and also the newly released Canadian standards such as CAN/CSA C61400-2, creating a ‘one stop shop’ for complete US and Canadian wind turbine testing and certification requirements. Intertek will also test for manufacturers that wish to use other certification bodies, such as the Small Wind Certification Council (SWCC).
The facility will support testing of several small wind turbines at the same time, from the smaller ‘micro’ turbines of a few hundred watts, up to the ‘largest’ small wind turbine of 200m2 swept blade area – about 50-60kw. Using remote access monitoring, Intertek will generate 24/7 data to evaluate a range of real world environmental conditions, as required by the AWEA, Canadian and international wind turbine standards. The test center complements Intertek’s existing market-leading capabilities for testing and certification of electrical components and systems including generators, inverters and controls among others.
For more information on Intertek’s services for the Wind Energy business go to intertek.com/wind or call 1-800-WORLDLAB.
Contact:
Roy Strunin
Senior Marketing Manager
Telephone: +1-978-263-2662
Roy.Strunin@intertek.com
About Intertek’s Wind Services
Intertek supports manufacturers, owners and operators in the wind power industry with a broad range of services in including: certifications, field labelling, Structural analysis and inspection, system certification, preventative maintenance, independent verification, and monitoring.
About Intertek
As a leading provider of quality safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world, Intertek has the expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries around the world. For more information regarding Intertek’s new developments or performance testing, call 1-800-WORLDLAB or visit: www.intertek.com.