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Results for “Wind, Energy, Turbine, Performance”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

WFIP3

The Wind Forecasting Improvement Project 3 (WFIP-3) is the first offshore-based wind resource characterization project within the WFIP construct, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. WFIP-3 will provide a unique field study that will deliver the comprehensive suite of data needed to inform a series of modeling efforts that will develop and evaluate parameterization schemes suited to offshore environments and improved industry-targeted applications. The field study has two goals: (1) detailed sampling of the vertical structure of the Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer (MABL) at key observational areas, creating a rich dataset that will be used to refine and validate parameterization schemes, and (2) wide-area sampling of the MABL to create a multi-scale array of observations informing and guiding models of resource characterization. We will deploy a multi-platform array of measurements that span the MABL and create a multi-scale observational array stretching south from Marth’s Vineyard across the wind energy areas.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1981

The UTRC wind energy conversion system performance analysis for horizontal axis wind turbines (WECSPER)

The theory for the UTRC Energy Conversion System Performance Analysis (WECSPER) for the prediction of horizontal axis wind turbine performance is presented. Major features of the analysis are the ability to: (1) treat the wind turbine blades as lifting lines with a prescribed wake model; (2) solve for the wake-induced inflow and blade circulation using real nonlinear airfoil data; and (3) iterate internally to obtain a compatible wake transport velocity and blade loading solution. This analysis also provides an approximate treatment of wake distortions due to tower shadow or wind shear profiles. Finally, selected results of internal UTRC application of the analysis to existing wind turbines and correlation with limited test data are described.

Egolf, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Performance characteristics of aerodynamically optimum turbines for wind energy generators

This paper presents a brief discussion of the aerodynamic methodology for wind energy generator turbines, an approach to the design of aerodynamically optimum wind turbines covering a broad range of design parameters, some insight on the effect on performance of nonoptimum blade shapes which may represent lower fabrication costs, the annual wind turbine energy for a family of optimum wind turbines, and areas of needed research. On the basis of the investigation, it is concluded that optimum wind turbines show high performance over a wide range of design velocity ratios; that structural requirements impose constraints on blade geometry; that variable pitch wind turbines provide excellent power regulation and that annual energy output is insensitive to design rpm and solidity of optimum wind turbines.

Rohrbach, C.↗
DOE OSTI2023

AWAKEN

The American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN) is a landmark collaborative international wake observation and validation campaign. Wake interactions are among the least understood and most impactful physical interactions in wind plants today, leading to unexpected power losses and increased operations and maintenance costs. The AWAKEN campaign is designed to gather observational data to address the most pressing science questions about wind turbine wake interactions and aerodynamics and to further understand wake behavior and validate wind plant models. Simultaneously, the AWAKEN campaign will also focus on testing of wind farm control strategies that have been shown to increase wind plant power production. Leveraging the expertise and resources of a large body of National Laboratories, academic institutions, and industry partners will lead to improved wind farm layout with greater power production and improved reliability, ultimately leading to lower wind energy costs.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

RAAW

High-fidelity wind turbine modeling advances necessitate model validation datasets of equally high fidelity. The Rotor Aerodynamics, Aeroelastics & Wake (RAAW) project was designed to address this need. This three-year project runs from October 2021 through October 2024 starting with a field data collection period followed by model validation activities. RAAW is a partnership between GE Renewable Energy and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories. The field experiment is designed to make detailed measurements of the inflow, wind turbine response, and the resulting wake. The experimental dataset will be suitable for validating wind turbine models across the fidelity spectrum from actuator disk methods to blade-resolved codes.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Sensitivity analysis of numerical modeling input parameters on floating offshore wind turbine loads in extreme idling conditions

Abstract. Floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) systems are subject to complex environmental loads, with significant potential for damage in extreme storm conditions. Design simulations in these conditions are required to assess the survivability of the device with some level of confidence. Aero-hydro-servo-elastic engineering tools can be used with a reasonable balance of accuracy and computational efficiency. The models require many input parameters to describe the air and water conditions, the system properties, and the load calculations. Each of these parameters has some possible range, due to either statistical uncertainty or variations with time. Variation in the input parameters can have important effects on the uncertainty in the resulting loads, but it is not practical to perform detailed assessments of the impact of this uncertainty for every input parameter. This work demonstrates a method to identify the input parameters that have the most impact on the loads to focus further inspection. The process is done specifically for extreme storm load cases defined in the International Electrotechnical Commission design requirements for floating offshore wind turbines. The analysis was performed using the International Energy Agency Wind 15 MW offshore reference wind turbine atop the University of Maine VolturnUS-S reference platform in two US offshore wind regions, the Gulf of Maine and Humboldt Bay. It was found that the direction of incident waves and current, yaw misalignment, and the length of mooring line sections were among the primary sensitivities.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Experimental investigation of advanced turbine control strategies and load-mitigation measures with a model-scale floating offshore wind turbine system

To advance the control co-design of offshore wind energy systems, the authors perform basin-scale experiments with a fully instrumented and actuated floating offshore wind turbine model. The model consists of a 1:70 scale performance-matched model of the International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme 15-MW reference turbine atop the VolturnUS-S semisubmersible platform. The Reference OpenSource Controller provides real-time blade pitch and generator torque control. Here we aim to develop an open data set for the validation of numerical models in predicting the influence of turbine control and load-mitigation measures. For this purpose, we measure the effects of advanced turbine control features, including peak shaving and floating feedback as well as hull-based control using tuned mass dampers on the system. Overall, the results demonstrate measurable and consistent influences from the control and load-mitigation measures, thus confirming the usefulness as a validation data set. Peak shaving attenuates the response to wind turbulence at near-rated wind speed. Floating feedback reduces the load and platform pitch motion associated with the negative damping induced by blade pitch control. The tuned mass dampers also attenuate the system response near the targeted frequencies under suitable conditions. We also identify detrimental side effects of each load-mitigation measure.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Exploring the interplay between distributed wind generators and solar photovoltaic systems

This study investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of wind and solar energy generation across the continental United States, focusing on energy availability, reliability, variability, and cooperation. Using data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we analyze the performance of wind turbines and photovoltaic systems, revealing distinct patterns in energy production and reliability. The classification of wind and solar zones based on energy availability and reliability provides valuable insights for renewable energy planning and grid integration strategies. Overall, this methodology contributes to understanding wind and solar interactions, which will lead to informing effective renewable energy deployment and grid integration efforts.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

AMR-Wind: A Performance-Portable, High-Fidelity Flow Solver for Wind Farm Simulations

We present AMR-Wind, a verified and validated high-fidelity computational-fluid-dynamics code for wind farm flows. AMR-Wind is a block-structured, adaptive-mesh, incompressible-flow solver that enables predictive simulations of the atmospheric boundary layer and wind plants. It is a highly scalable code designed for parallel high-performance computing with a specific focus on performance portability for current and future computing architectures, including graphical processing units (GPUs). In this paper, we detail the governing equations, the numerical methods, and the turbine models. Establishing a foundation for the correctness of the code, we present the results of formal verification and validation. The verification studies, which include a novel actuator line test case, indicate that AMR-Wind is spatially and temporally second-order accurate. The validation studies demonstrate that the key physics capabilities implemented in the code, including actuator disk models, actuator line models, turbulence models, and large eddy simulation (LES) models for atmospheric boundary layers, perform well in comparison to reference data from established computational tools and theory. We conclude with a demonstration simulation of a 12-turbine wind farm operating in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer, detailing computational performance and realistic wake interactions.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2013

Advanced Performance Hydraulic Wind Energy

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, has developed a novel advanced hydraulic wind energy design, which has up to 23% performance improvement over conventional wind turbine and conventional hydraulic wind energy systems with 5 m/sec winds. It also has significant cost advantages with levelized costs equal to coal (after carbon tax rebate). The design is equally applicable to tidal energy systems and has passed preliminary laboratory proof-of-performance tests, as funded by the Department of Energy.

tides↗
DOE OSTI2026

Impact of atmospheric turbulence on performance and loads of wind turbines: knowledge gaps and research challenges

Wind energy harvesting from the atmosphere takes place in the atmospheric boundary layer. The boundary layer shear and buoyancy create three-dimensional turbulent eddies spanning a range of scales that form a continuous forward cascade of kinetic energy to the smallest scales of motion where energy is dissipated. Large-scale atmospheric circulations modulate the boundary layer turbulence, characterized by coherence and intermittency. As wind turbines grow in size and the integrated control of both turbines and wind farms spans greater distances, the relationship between the scales of atmospheric turbulence and the design and operation of wind energy facilities has entered new territory. The boundary layer turbulence impacts both wind turbine power production and turbine loads. Optimizing wind turbine and wind farm performance requires an understanding of how turbulence affects both wind turbine efficiency and reliability. While the characteristics of atmospheric boundary layer turbulence have been observed and studied in detail over the last few decades, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the impact of turbulence on wind power resources and wind farm operations. This paper outlines the current state of turbulence research relevant to wind energy applications and points to gaps in our knowledge that need to be addressed to effectively utilize wind resources.

Kosović, Branko [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, M↗
DOE OSTI2025

Load assessment of a wind farm considering negative and positive yaw misalignment for wake steering

Wake steering strategies are employed to increase the overall power production of wind farms by deflecting wakes of upstream turbines away from downstream ones. The gain in net power comes at the expense of increased fatigue loads experienced by downstream turbines. In this work we investigate performance and fatigue loading characteristics of a small farm consisting of five aligned International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme 15 MW wind turbines. A parametric study is performed where, for every wind direction from −20 to 20°, the yaw misalignment angle varies from −25 to 25°. This setup allows us to investigate asymmetries and identify optimal conditions for a given wind direction. In general, we find that positive yaw configurations are preferred and that yaw configurations that result in attractive power differences when compared to a baseline no-yaw scenario (25 %) come with significant increase in fatigue loading (we use the standard deviation and damage-equivalent load (DEL) of the blade-root, low-speed shaft, and tower-base moments as proxies for fatigue load). We find that for any given positive wind inflow angle, yaw angles between −2.5 and 15° yield power differences of 10 %–20 % over a no-yaw baseline, and positive yaw is preferred because of lower fatigue loading. For any given negative wind inflow angles, positive yaw also results in lower magnitudes of standard deviation and DEL for the channels investigated. A small power loss of up to 2 % is observed for some positive yaw angles under negative wind directions (as compared to symmetric negative yaw and positive wind cases), but improvements in terms of loads exceed 25 % and may be enough to justify a positive yaw configuration under negative winds as well. We show that such behavior can be explained by partial waking and the direction of the rotation of the rotor.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dynamometer Facts

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Flatirons Campus features four dynamometers that can perform research validation on wind turbine systems and ocean energy devices. These dynamometers can validate wave and water power systems over capacity ratings ranging from 1 kilowatt (kW) to 5 megawatts (MW) by replacing water with a controllable, electric motor. By combining these capabilities with other tools, such as the controllable grid interface (https://www.nrel.gov/grid/controllable-grid-interface.html), researchers can verify how their device interacts with the grid or integrates with other technologies.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2023

Wind Energy Accomplishments and Year-End Performance Report: Fiscal Year 2022

Four decades ago, construction was just beginning on experimental turbines at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Today, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) facility is the centerpiece of the laboratory's Flatirons Campus, a world-class hub for renewable energy research. The nation's shift to 100% clean electricity by 2035 will require a mix of renewable energy sources and strategies - and together, wind and solar energy could account for 60% to 80% of that clean energy resource. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, NREL scientists, engineers, and analysts contributed to these visionary goals through their wind energy research. As wind innovations push into new areas, NREL continues to play a vital role in advancing technology and addressing deployment barriers in pursuit of more efficient, reliable, and predictable wind energy systems. FY 2022 wind research and development explored the potential for dramatic growth in land-based systems, the launch of the nation's first commercial-scale offshore installations, and transmission infrastructure buildout. Land-based wind energy is one of the most cost-effective electricity supply options - but utility-scale deployment will require up to 10 times the current number of turbines. An NREL plan addressed this need to accelerate U.S. wind technology rollout at distributed and utility scales. Another project conducted by NREL and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) helps position the nation's first major offshore wind corridor for success. The WETO-funded Atlantic Offshore Wind Transmission Study is evaluating options for balancing electricity supply and demand, while supporting resilience of the grid and marine industries. WETO, NREL, and other partners are working to enable the enormous supply chain and workforce changes the U.S. wind energy industry will need to meet net-zero-carbon-emissions targets. As part of a seminal series of DOE-funded supply chain studies, NREL analysts reported on the trade-offs involved in manufacturing large volumes of wind technologies, while addressing cost, workforce, and logistics issues. All of this research is supported by NREL's outstanding research teams, tools, data, and facilities. A WETO-funded international wind energy field campaign, the American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN), has brought together experts from NREL, PNNL, and Sandia National Laboratories to create the world's most comprehensive set of high-resolution data on wind energy atmospheric phenomenon. This study could lead to more accurate predictions of losses from turbine-to-turbine wake interactions, eventually helping wind plants capture more energy and operators save millions of dollars. In addition, NREL researchers developed testing, modeling, and analysis tools to improve the security of power grids by identifying wind power plant dynamic stability problems. A new Stochastic Soaring Raptor Simulator (SSRS) protects golden eagles from turbine encounters by predicting flight paths. This report provides more detail on these top achievements and other accomplishments made by NREL and its partners during FY 2022 (between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022).

accomplishments↗
NASA NTRS1979

Utility operational experience on the NASA/DOE MOD-0A 200-kW wind turbine

The Mod-0A 200 wind turbine was designed and fabricated as part of the Federal Wind Energy Program. Early wind turbine operation and performance data were obtained while gaining initial experience in the operation of large, horizontal axis wind turbines in typical utility environments. The Mod-0A wind turbine was turned over to the Town of Clayton Light and Water Plant, Clayton, NM, for utility operation and on December 31, 1978, the machine had completed ten months of utility operation. The machine is described and the recent operational experience at Clayton, NMis documented.

Glasgow, J. C.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Conceptual Design of a Tension Leg Platform With 22.3 MW Vertical Axis Turbine

Here, this paper presents the conceptual design of a tension leg platform (TLP) for the ARCUS “towerless” vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT). VAWTs are ideal for floating offshore sites and have several advantages over horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) including reduced top mass, lower center of gravity, increased energy capture, and in turn lower cost. The towerless ARCUS VAWT drives these advantages further through increased structural efficiency and by enabling more optimized TLP designs with simplified installation procedures. For hull sizing, we have studied three turbine sizes with corresponding power ratings of 5.1 MW, 10.4 MW and 22.3 MW. The largest turbine was identified as having the greatest potential to reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and is the reference size used for the further detailed design process. The conceptual design of the VAWT TLP has been awarded with an ABS Approval in Principle Certificate. This paper contains brief analysis results and design findings for a TLP designed to house a VAWT, including the following topics: • Applicable Design Codes • Metocean Conditions • ARCUS Turbine Loads • Design Load Cases and Requirements - Pre-service TLP Stability - In-place TLP Global Performance • Platform Configurations, Hull Structure Scantling Design, Weight and CG Estimation, and General Arrangement Drawings • Hull Ballast Plan for both Pre-service and In-place Conditions • Pre-service Quayside Integration, Transportation and Wet Tow Stability Analysis • Global Performance Analysis for Motions and Tendon tensions • Summary of cost components and system levelized cost of energy

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1981

Performance testing of a 50 kW VAWT in a built-up environment

The results of performance tests of a DAF Indal 50 kW vertical axis wind turbine are presented. Results of limited free stream turbulence and vertical wind shear measurements at the site are also presented. The close agreement between measured and predicted energy outputs, required to verify the wind turbine power output performance relationship, was not attained. A discussion is presented of factors that may have contributed to the lack of better agreement.

Schienbein, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Modeling Innovations Advance Wind Energy Industry

In 1981, Glenn Research Center scientist Dr. Larry Viterna developed a model that predicted certain elements of wind turbine performance with far greater accuracy than previous methods. The model was met with derision from others in the wind energy industry, but years later, Viterna discovered it had become the most widely used method of its kind, enabling significant wind energy technologies-like the fixed pitch turbines produced by manufacturers like Aerostar Inc. of Westport, Massachusetts-that are providing sustainable, climate friendly energy sources today.

Source record↗