This article, from Nrel, is authored by Bill Scanlon Whenever utilities debate the merits of a wind farm or investors mull the potential return on a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, there’s a good chance that the performance and risk models created by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) come into play. Questions investors…
Materials, reliability, & standards blade reliability collaborative
The Blade Reliability Collaborative (BRC) has focused recently on inspection methods to find flaws and damage in blades, and the effect of those defects on structural and aerodynamic performance. Additionally, the project has started a new effort looking at repair methods. Researchers at Sandia have completed design and manufacturing of non-destructive inspection (NDI) test panels…
Successful FAA trial announced of Laufer Wind radar-activated obstruction lighting system
Laufer Wind has announced the successful demonstration of its Aircraft Detection Sight Solution (ADSS), the first-ever trial against a radar-activated obstruction lighting system on a wind farm in the U.S. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) participated in the trial. The company develops radar-activated lighting for utility…
NREL supercomputer tackles grid challenges
“Big data” is playing an increasingly big role in the renewable energy industry and the transformation of the nation’s electrical grid, and no single entity provides a better tool for such data than the Energy Department’s Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) located on the campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Imagined by NREL leaders who…
NREL and General Motors announce R&D partnership to reduce cost of automotive fuel cells
Editor’s note: This is significant because hydrogen will be a primary fuel for fuel cells and wind generated power will have a role to play electrolyzing water into hydrogen and oxygen. The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and General Motors (GM) are partnering on a multiyear, multimillion dollar joint effort to accelerate the…
Energy Department invests $20 million to advance hydrogen production and delivery technologies
The Energy Department recently announced $20 million for ten new research and development projects that will advance hydrogen production and delivery technologies. Developing technologies that can economically produce and deliver hydrogen to power fuel cells from diverse, domestic, and renewable resources can enable substantial reductions in energy use and carbon emissions. Advancing these technologies will…
NREL bolsters batteries with nanotubes
Editor’s note: Less expensive power storage will assist in the spread of renewable energy. This article comes from NREL and is authored by Bill Scanlon with photos by Dennis and Joelynn Schroeder. Researchers at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are turning to extremely tiny tubes and rods to boost power and durability…
Survey of state-level cost and benefit estimates of Renewable Portfolio Standards
The report A Survey of State-Level Cost and Benefit Estimates of Renewable Portfolio Standards has been authored and released by Berkeley Lab and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Renewable portfolio standard (RPS) policies are in place in more than half of all U.S. states and have played a critical role in driving renewable energy deployment…
A changing climate calls for upgrades to national energy system
This article comes from NREL. The U.S. National Climate Assessment report says every region of the nation is seeing the effects of climate change.”It’s more vital than ever that the nation have a secure, reliable energy infrastructure that can respond to extreme weather events, integrate sustainable sources of energy onto the grid, and keep the lights on,”…
Fuel cell buses in U.S. transit fleets
Editor’s note: This study should be of interest to the wind community, because fuel cells will use DC voltage to electrolyzed hydrogen from water, a supply for which wind turbines are well-suited. This is the executive summary. The full report can be found here: www.nrel.gov/publications. By Leslie Eudy, of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and…
Edition 3 of NREL’s wind plant optimization and systems engineering newsletter
The Wind Plant Optimization and Systems Engineering Newsletter series from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Wind Energy Systems Engineering Initiative highlights current system approaches to the wind energy research, design, engineering, and development. Each quarterly edition provides short overviews of the integrated, interdisciplinary, and holistic work that is happening in this field. The wind…
K2 Management to build global installation offshore wind database
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has engaged K2 Management to build a global installation database for offshore wind. The objective is to provide NREL and thereby the U.S. wind industry with easily accessible data on installation times, correlation effects, implications, and processes to secure use of best practice and avoid delays and…
NREL, Sandia team to improve hydrogen fueling infrastructure
Editor’s note: This article should be of interest to the wind industry because the hydrogen needed by fuel cell vehicles will likely be from electrolysis, and the dc power to drive the electrolyzers will most efficiently come from wind generated power. A new project led by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and…
NREL technical report: Gearbox Reliability Collaborative phase 3 gearbox 2 test plan
Gearboxes in wind turbines have not been achieving their expected design life; however, they commonly meet and exceed the design criteria specified in current standards in the gear, bearing, and wind turbine industry as well as third-party certification criteria. The failures are widespread across manufacturers and turbine sizes, and the majority of these failures are…
NREL drives research on hydrogen fuel cells
Editor’s note: This article comes from NREL and is written by Bill Scanlon. It is significant because the hydrogen to fuel the cells will have to be electrolyzed and that is a good job for wind generated power. Further developments would let such car owners drive on wind power, another good thing. Hydrogen fuel cell…
EPRI unveils study on the integrated electric grid
The Electric Power Research Institute has launched a study on the transformation of the electric power grid. The rapid rise of Distributed Energy Resources (DER) — such as rooftop solar panels and high-tech microgrids — could change the structure of the electric grid. Yet even as these technologies rise rapidly, few organizations have looked at…
Energy Department announces funding to access higher quality wind resources and lower costs
The Energy Department has announced $2 million to help efficiently harness wind energy using taller towers. These projects will help strengthen U.S. wind turbine component manufacturing, reduce the cost of clean and renewable wind energy, and expand the geographic range of cost-effective wind power in the United States. This effort supports the Energy Department’s broader Clean…
NREL Study: Active power control of wind turbines can improve power-grid reliability
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with partners from the Electric Power Research Institute and the University of Colorado have completed a comprehensive study to understand how wind power technology can assist the power grid by controlling the active power output being placed onto the system. The rest of the power system’s resources have…
NREL battery model licensed to improve accuracy of their simulations
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has licensed its Equivalent Circuit Battery Model to software developer ThermoAnalytics for use in its recently updated RadTherm software package. The model is a part of the Battery Module within RadTherm, which is used by engineers to simulate the performance of battery cells and optimize multi-cell pack…
NREL 5 MW dynamometer and test facility to improve wind turbines
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently took a giant step forward in the quest for more reliable, lower-cost wind power with the addition of the new 5-MW Dynamometer Test Facility at its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Premature failures of mechanical systems have had a significant impact on the cost of wind turbine…