Aerodynamics Research To Improve Large Wind Turbine Performance and Reliability
NREL's Aerodynamics of Large Turbines (ALTius, which is Greek for “higher”) project is driving knowledge of aerodynamics of large turbines higher.
As part of ALTius, NREL is providing up to $6.25 million to industry and academia to generate scientific data that can enable the design and development of cost-effective, high-performance large commercial wind turbines.
Important Dates
Jan. 17, 2025: Request for proposals opened
April 7, 2025 (extended from March 17, 2025): Proposal submissions due
(Anticipated) Fall 2025: Selections announced
Modern wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever built by humankind. As these turbines grow larger to capture more wind energy (beyond 10 MW of capacity), they offer significant opportunities for cost reduction but also expose knowledge gaps that increase the risk to their performance and reliability.
To address these challenges in the field of aerodynamics, NREL on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office, issued a request for proposals (RFP) from industry and academia to advance necessary data and tools that can accelerate the development of cost-effective, high-performance large commercial turbines. The RFP provides up to $6.25 million in funding to eligible entities.
The Focus of This Research
The research targets two key knowledge gaps:
- Understanding aerodynamics at large scales
Large wind turbines of 10–15 MW and beyond operate in unique aerodynamic conditions (high Reynolds numbers). The current lack of high-quality, open-source experimental data to characterize the behavior of airfoils (the curved surface of a wind turbine blade) and validate the tools used to design and analyze them creates uncertainties. Generating these data will improve the accuracy of design tools, leading to the development of more reliable and efficient turbines. - Addressing loads in nonoperational conditions
Large turbine blades can face significant stress from vibrations when turbines are in nonoperational states (when idling or parked), such as during installation, maintenance, or in extreme weather events. Current simulation techniques struggle to predict unsteady, three-dimensional (3D) aerodynamic and aeroelastic effects, leading to over-designed and costly blades or designs that are vulnerable to damage under certain conditions.
By providing validation-quality, open test data to the wind R&D community, the selected projects will:
- Enhance the reliability and aerodynamic performance of large wind turbines
- Accelerate and assure the reduction of the levelized cost of wind energy by enabling the design of turbines that can reliably and cost-effectively avoid or withstand excessive loads and vibrations.
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Last Updated Sept. 29, 2025