An industry landmark moment occurred on Oct. 29, 2014, when a team that included NREL, Stuttgart University and DNV GL achieved control of an operational wind turbine using a ZephIR wind lidar. “This new installation of a ZephIR DM has taken a new direction in reducing yaw misalignment by providing the opportunity for full turbine…
NREL and Clemson University collaborate on wind energy testing facilities
Through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Clemson University will partner to share resources and capabilities in the operation and development of testing facilities. The CRADA also includes the exchange of staff for training and research and development purposes, including collaborative participation in facility commissioning…
NREL’s economic impact tops $872 million
The economic impact of the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) was $872.3 million nationwide in fiscal year 2014, according to a study by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. The study estimates NREL’s impact to Colorado’s economy totaled $701 million, a decline of 1.6 percent from the prior year. The…
Nation’s first power-to-gas project explores solution for storing excess renewable energy
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) has joined with the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC) to launch demonstration projects to create and test a carbon-free, power-to-gas system for the first time ever in the United States. The technology converts electricity into gaseous energy and could provide North…
Learning how to prevent bird-turbine collisions
A trained falcon named Houdini darts and soars next to a wind power plant in the shadow of the Colorado Rockies, gathering radar data that could someday save the lives of his avian brethren. Peregrine gyrfalcon Houdini is the VIP guest of the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and he performs his strategic…
NREL and partners review key issues and lessons learned from U.S. wind integration studies
As a complement to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recently released Wind Vision report, a new paper summarizes the lessons learned from actual power systems operational practice, along with some of the most relevant and comprehensive wind integration studies conducted during the past several years. In the years since the DOE’s “20% Wind Energy by…
NREL fills key leadership role for energy systems security and resilience
Dr. Erfan Ibrahim has joined the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory as director of Cyber Physical Systems Security and Resilience for NREL’s Energy Systems Integration directorate. This critical area of research and development addresses the challenges of integrating clean energy sources into the national energy infrastructure. “Erfan’s experience, creativity and vision complements our existing…
NREL researchers advance wind energy systems engineering
In recent years, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have been making progress in multiple avenues of wind systems engineering. This includes the study of how to integrate wind energy engineering and cost models across wind plants, finding the important interactions between various subsystems to achieve a better understanding of how to improve…
Incubator network to help clean-energy entrepreneurs
The Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have launched the Clean Energy Incubator Network. The program, funded by the Energy Department, aims to improve the performance of clean energy business incubators, connect critical industry and energy sector partners, and advance clean energy technologies emerging from universities and…
Software helps optimize battery lifespan
Editor’s note: Those designing power-storage facilities may find value in this software from NREL. While upfront costs of lithium-ion batteries must be significantly cut for electric vehicles (EVs) to reach a wider audience, lifespan optimization and synergistic business approaches offer additional ways to make EVs more affordable. NREL’s new Battery Lifetime Analysis and Simulation Tool (BLAST) suite…
NREL releases its 2013 Renewable energy data book
United States overall energy consumption grew to 97.3 quadrillion Btu in 2013, a 2.4% increase from 2012. Energy consumption from coal and renewables grew slightly, while consumption from petroleum and natural gas fell slightly. A few key findings in the book include: United States electric power sector energy consumption grew to 38.4 quadrillion Btu in 2013,…
Adjusting for weather conditions helps boost power transmission
Leveraging weather conditions could help utilities deliver electricity faster, cheaper and safer. Donna Rennemo, WindSim , windsim.com Research has shown that knowing the weather conditions and the impact on electrical power lines can increase transmission capacity limits by 10 to 40%. This includes key weather components such as air temperature and solar radiation, but also…
How tip velocity affects wind turbine design
This study conducted by NREL engineers, investigates the effect of tip-speed constraints on system levelized cost-of-energy (LCOE). The results indicated that a change in maximum tip-speed from 80 to 100 m/s could produce a 32% decrease in gearbox weight (a 33% reduction in cost), which would result in an overall reduction of 1 to 9%…
Sandia and NREL collaborate on the impact of tip speed constraints on wind turbine design and plant cost of energy
NREL and Sandia recently published two reports on their collaborative effort to study the effects of increased maximum allowable blade tip velocities on overall system cost and performance. The maximum rotor rotation speed for utility-scale wind turbines is generally constricted by noise considerations. Even so, innovations in acoustics or siting in remote locations or both…
NREL Industry Growth Forum recognizes top clean energy technologies and startup businesses
The Industry Growth Forum hosted by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) attracted nearly 400 investors, entrepreneurs, scientists and thought leaders to Denver recently. Three companies where honored with Best Venture and Outstanding Venture Awards. The two-day forum highlighted clean energy technology and business developments. In addition to hearing business case presentations from 30…
NREL software lets engineers see how wind behaves and more
Wind energy is so close to achieving cost parity with fossil fuels that just a little extra efficiency is all that is likely needed to push it into the mainstream and past the Energy Department’s goal of 20% wind energy by 2030. That extra efficiency may be realized with the help of a software developed…
NREL industry growth forum attracts clean energy entrepreneurs and investors
Forum to feature business presentations from 30 clean energy startups, networking opportunities, compelling panels and speakers Thirty clean energy companies will present their business cases to a panel of investors and industry experts Oct. 28 and 29 in Denver, as the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) hosts its annual Industry Growth Forum. The…
U.S. has resources to support more than 54 GW of offshore wind, says NOWEGIS study
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded National Offshore Wind Energy Grid Interconnection Study – led by ABB, AWS Truepower, Duke Energy, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and University of Pittsburgh – concludes three-year investigation with positive outlooks for US-based offshore wind potential by 2030. The US Department of Energy (DOE)-funded “National Offshore Wind Energy Grid Interconnection…
Implications of a PTC extension on U.S. wind deployment
This technical report come from NREL. The preface and executive summary are here. Preface This work responds to a request made in October 2012 by Senator Jeff Bingaman, who has since retired. At the time, Senator Bingaman was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Senator Bingaman requested that the National…
Pika Energy selected by NREL to drive down cost of small wind power
Wind turbine manufacturer wins $700,000 for efficient manufacturing processes and scaled-up designs to drive cost savings in small wind market Pika Energy, a Maine-based manufacturer of residential wind turbines and wind-solar hybrid systems, says it has been selected by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for two projects totaling $700,000 of funding, to improve the competitiveness of generating…