Wind Energy News
Stay up to date on the latest wind energy research and development news at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Dec. 28, 2022
NREL researchers and staff reached countless goals and achieved numerous successes in science, partnerships, and commercialization in 2022. Here are just a few of the highlights.
Dec. 15, 2022
NREL has announced plans to award $2.9 million to 11 manufacturers of small- and medium-scale wind turbine technology through CIP. These awards help manufacturers of wind turbines less than 1 megawatt in capacity, as well as other distributed wind technology.
Nov. 30, 2022
Two NREL studies analyze the causes of the wind energy workforce gap and offer solutions to connect industry employers and potential workers.
Nov. 22, 2022
Over the last four years, NREL has been part of a multilaboratory team that explored deployable wind turbine systems—including a few solar panels and batteries—using standard shipping containers to power military and disaster relief purposes.
Nov. 3, 2022
The clean energy revolution can only succeed if U.S. manufacturers have the materials, components, infrastructure, and other resources needed to meet ambitious emissions-reduction targets. New supply chain strategies are helping make the production of renewable energy technologies as sustainable as their operation.
Nov. 3, 2022
NREL-authored reports provided insights on supply chain issues related to solar photovoltaic, wind power, energy storage, semiconductor, and hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies.
Oct. 25, 2022
Read a summary of the six manufacturing experts profiled throughout the year as part of NREL's Manufacturing Masterminds Q&A profile series.
Oct. 18, 2022
Experts at NREL have published a new report documenting the first national-level evaluation of the U.S. offshore wind energy industry's workforce gaps and opportunities, what might be needed to grow a domestic workforce, what educational opportunities are needed to train that workforce, and what actions can be taken.
Oct. 12, 2022
A recently approved U.S. offshore wind energy guidance document developed by industry with NREL leadership could become one of the primary resources for offshore wind energy development, leading to shorter regulatory timelines and increased worker safety.
Sept. 15, 2022
The new FLoating Offshore Wind ReadINess (FLOWIN) Prize, administered by NREL, invites competitors to help drive down the costs of floating offshore wind energy by 70% by 2035.
Aug. 30, 2022
NREL study identifies the opportunities and challenges of achieving the U.S. transformational goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Aug. 30, 2022
Researchers at NREL are considering circular economy strategies to mitigate the impact of wind turbine blades at the end of their useful lifespan.
Aug. 9, 2022
In a collaborative effort, NREL researchers joined 100 worldwide wind energy experts in writing a series of 10 publications to summarize and clarify the most critical needs to advance wind energy science.
Aug. 9, 2022
State and local zoning laws and ordinances influence how and where wind and solar energy projects can be sited and deployed—which can have a measurable impact on U.S. renewable energy resource potential.
July 21, 2022
NREL has awarded three industry teams $1.1 million in funding to support research on bats and wind energy projects. The two-year studies will explore bat behavior around wind turbines and help inform future efforts to improve coexistence of clean, renewable energy with wildlife.
July 20, 2022
Johney Green, associate laboratory director for Mechanical and Thermal Engineering Sciences at NREL, was appointed Chairman of The National GEM Consortium Board of Directors on July 18, 2022. GEM is a 45-year-old national nonprofit organization whose vision is to make scientific impact through underrepresented minority STEM talent in the United States.
July 18, 2022
Video explains how having more than enough renewable energy capacity can make the grid more flexible.
June 16, 2022
Growing up in Canada, Robynne Murray got her hands dirty clam digging in the Bay of Fundy. Now, at NREL, the mechanical engineer likes getting her hands dirty, manufacturing and evaluating new materials--like recyclable plastics and carbon fibers--for wind and tidal turbines and electric vehicles.
June 15, 2022
The latest additions to the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP) more than double the number of communities advancing local energy goals through this DOE-funded, multi-lab, multi-partner effort.
May 27, 2022
NREL has released version 2.3 of its Open Operational Assessment (OpenOA) software, which helps demystify wind plant operations for wind plant operators.
May 27, 2022
Using novel analyses for floating wind turbines, researchers at NREL have assessed the best way to divide up the first West Coast offshore wind energy areas into leasing areas that could power 1.5 million homes, bringing California and the United States closer to their clean energy goals.
May 25, 2022
Martin Keller, director of NREL, said he expects the Flatirons Campus near Boulder, Colorado, will reach net zero emissions annually by the end of fiscal year 2023 and the South Table Mountain Campus outside Golden, Colorado, to hit that achievement three years later.
May 23, 2022
Researchers Philipp Beiter and Eric Lantz from NREL, together with collaborators from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy, elicited opinions from more than 140 of the world's leading experts about their expectations of future wind plant design in 2035.
May 12, 2022
The U.S. federal government has set a goal of 100% clean electricity in 2035 and a net-zero carbon economy in 2050. To achieve these ambitious targets, all forms of renewable power will be important—including distributed wind.
April 25, 2022
The release of Version 3.0 of the FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS) wind farm controls software offers significant improvements to maximize wind energy facility productivity and profits.
April 22, 2022
A new software developed at NREL with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office endeavors to predict the most likely long-distance flight paths of individual golden eagles as they ride updrafts in the wind.
April 22, 2022
Meeting U.S. decarbonization goals is expected to require rapid deployment of additional wind energy. As more wind is deployed, social and ecological considerations of the surrounding landscape are becoming increasingly important--but research on the land use impacts of wind deployment has been limited.
April 15, 2022
Bat Appreciation Day is April 17, and researchers at NREL are working hard to create solutions that protect bats and other wildlife while ensuring sustainable deployment of wind energy.
March 1, 2022
NREL has issued a request for proposals for the Competitiveness Improvement Project, which supports distributed wind energy.
Feb. 2, 2022
REopt, a free, techno-economic decision support model, helps users optimize energy systems for buildings, campuses, communities, and microgrids. Once called REopt Lite, the REopt tool is dropping the "Lite" in 2022 to better reflect its true status as a heavy-hitting and comprehensive optimization tool.
Jan. 24, 2022
Researchers are collecting the most comprehensive data on how winds move through wind plants to help design more efficient plants and reduce wind energy costs.
Jan. 14, 2022
NREL uses advanced grid research environment for first-ever example of type-3 turbines using grid-forming controls.
Jan. 11, 2022
In NREL's Insight Center, models come to life, illuminating pathways to a clean energy future.
Jan. 3, 2022
High wind loads increase structural design costs of concentrating solar power collector structures, such as heliostats and parabolic troughs.
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