Clipper Windpower, which manufactures wind turbines in Cedar Rapids, plans to install a prototype in Iowa of a new wind turbine designed to be used at sites with lower wind speeds.

The proposed turbine will be based on significant upgrades to the company’s Liberty wind turbine platform, according to a statement released Friday, July 1, by the Iowa Power Fund Board. The 2.5-megawatt Liberty turbines are manufactured in Cedar Rapids, and the new turbine will create job opportunities in Cedar Rapids after the technology is tested and commercialized, the statement said.

The Power Fund Board awarded nearly $2.3 million to Clipper to manufacture and install a prototype of the turbine in Iowa at the board’s meeting in Des Moines. Another $18 million will be invested in the project by Clipper.

Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapidsis acquiring one Clipper turbine for its training programs in wind energy with the help of an Iowa Power Fund grant. While Kirkwood is interested in hosting the prototype low-speed wind turbine, it might not be possible to site two wind turbines on the campus, according to Tom Kaldenberg, executive directhe college’s facilities manager.

“This is a different project, and there might be some collusion if we can work something out early,” Kaldenberg said. He said hosting the prototype turbine would require a major study to determine the environmental impact.

Clipper officials were not immediately available for comment on the company’s selection of a location for the prototype. Kirkwood hopes to have the Clipper turbine it is purchasing this summer operational in March 2012.

The prototype of the low wind speed turbine will become a site for education, training and outreach. Clipper will work with the Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development on the project.