Wind Research
Utility-Scale Wind Applications

Utility-Scale Wind Applications

NREL's utility-scale research reduces industry costs through innovative technology development, performance and reliability improvements, integrated system advances, and leading-edge manufacturing solutions.

As an international leader in wind energy R&D, NREL works with academia and industry partners to develop more cost-effective wind power plants across the United States that can integrate with other energy sources to support the grid. Companies can take full advantage of our facilities, research and development capabilities, and world-class experts to get the support they need.

Our team of engineers and analysts also work with the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal offices on cutting-edge research projects that enable optimized wind plants, advanced manufacturing strategies, ultra-large rotor technologies, seamless interconnection, and much more.

Areas of Expertise

Meso- and micro-scale model development and validation

High-fidelity modeling using high-performance computing

Rotor air flow (wake) and resource measurements and prediction

Evaluation and development of technical solutions to environmental and siting challenges

Advanced integration in hybrid and grid systems

Systems engineering and controls for optimization of next-generation wind turbines and plant infrastructure

National and international standards development

Advanced components, security, reliability, and manufacturing research

Wind turbine drivetrain reliability and structural health monitoring

Hybrid energy systems research and grid integration

Workforce training and analysis

Projects

NREL's Aerodynamics of Large Turbines project is working with industry and academia to generate scientific data that can enable the design and development of cost-effective, high-performance large commercial wind turbines.

The American WAKE experimeNt is an international, multi-institutional wind energy field campaign designed to answer the most pressing science questions about how individual wind turbines interact with one another and the atmosphere in a wind farm, gathering observational data from wind farms to validate models and advance operation.

Through international collaborations facilitated by the International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme, researchers are focusing on resource characterization, plant and turbine optimization, techno-economic and market analysis, environmental impact evaluation, energy systems integration, and advanced design tool development.

To better understand what the industry—and its workforce—may need to achieve domestic energy growth, NREL researchers are working with industry partners to assess potential workforce gaps and opportunities.

Contact

The leads for land-based wind energy research at NREL focus on a variety of areas pertinent to the evolving wind energy industry, including modeling and simulation, technology research validation and certification, and controls and reliability.

Patrick Moriarty

Wind Energy Systems Group Manager

[email protected]