U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced the Department of Energy’s (DOE) intent to award Massachusetts $25 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The plan is to accelerate development of the state’s Wind Technology Testing Centre. The new centre will test commercial-sized wind turbine blades. Massachusetts was tapped in 2007 as a possible location for the testing centre.

With this Recovery Act funding, construction of the facility can begin in September, and will be complete by the end of 2010. The state is now concluding the final design for the testing centre, while DOE completes the environmental review and public consultation process. The centre will be the first commercial large blade test facility in the nation, allowing for testing of blades longer than 50 metres.

More research and development into longer blades is expected to quicken the creation of large-scale offshore wind power facilities. The facility will attract companies to design, manufacture, and test their blades in the U. S.

With this announcement, the total commitment of Recovery Act funding by the Department of Energy for wind development has reached $118 million.

Steve Lockard, president of Arizona-based TPI Composites, according to AP, said the facility will help put new materials and designs through their paces, including the much longer blades that will be used to equip offshore wind farms.