Wind Energy News
Stay up to date on the latest wind energy research and development news at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Dec. 12, 2023
Twenty-nine years ago, Vahan Gevorgian was a post-doctoral researcher studying wind and hybrid energy systems at the State Engineering University of Armenia when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself.
Dec. 11, 2023
Since 2013, NREL's Controllable Grid Interface has helped manufacturers and system operators understand how grid disturbances affect renewable energy systems before they are deployed. Ten years later, the second, more powerful CGI will soon be ready to complement the first CGI and enable NREL to support more experiments.
Dec. 11, 2023
Nicknamed PECAN, NREL's new, recyclable wind turbine blade resin boasts a novel composition. The name is an acronym representing the material's chemical structure, PolyEster Covalently Adaptable Network. NREL researchers designed the PECAN resin using biobased chemicals that can be easily extracted from plant waste.
Dec. 8, 2023
Researchers, educators, industry leaders, and more recently convened in Broomfield, Colorado, for the 2023 conference.
Dec. 6, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has announced $264 million in funding for 29 projects to develop clean-energy solutions that will pave the way to achieving a net-zero-carbon economy by 2050.
Dec. 5, 2023
In a Nature Energy article, NREL researchers discuss contracts for difference, which ensure renewable energy projects, like offshore wind farms, receive a fixed price for the energy they generate and can pay back their high initial investment costs, lowering the barrier for new projects to help expand clean energy deployment.
Nov. 20, 2023
NREL has issued a Competitiveness Improvement Project notice of intent and will host a workshop in advance of a 2024 funding solicitation for U.S. manufacturers of small- and medium-sized wind turbine technology.
Oct. 25, 2023
Computational tools using artificial intelligence (AI) can help optimize airfoil design for wind turbine blades, aircraft wings, and fan blades in natural gas turbines.
Oct. 9, 2023
As much as 20% of regional power needs along the Atlantic coast could be served by offshore wind farms by 2050, according to NREL.
Oct. 5, 2023
As one of six core partners in the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, NREL just received an additional round of funding for research to help lower the cost and boost quality and sustainability of wind turbine blades.
Sept. 26, 2023
Investment in a port system and domestic supply chain could enable the United States to efficiently deploy floating offshore wind energy at a commercial scale on the West Coast, according to an NREL study.
Sept. 25, 2023
The offshore wind energy pipeline continued to grow last year, according to an NREL analysis recently released in the Offshore Wind Market Report: 2023 Edition. If fully developed, the projects would be enough to power more than 18 million homes.
Sept. 22, 2023
Near-commercial wind turbine innovations will allow for cost-effective wind power in additional regions of the United States.
Sept. 12, 2023
DOE is launching a new challenge that combines the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize and the Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize, this time expanding the reach to community organizations, manufacturers, nonfederal government entities, and college students.
Aug. 21, 2023
New studies leveraging conceptual designs of offshore wind turbines point to how their drivetrains could change in the near future to produce more power while lowering costs, according to a new report by NREL and General Electric Research.
Aug. 15, 2023
The new Renewable Energy Materials Properties Database, the development of which was led by NREL, compiles information on materials used in wind and solar power plants.
Aug. 3, 2023
The number of local zoning ordinances governing renewable energy deployment is growing in the United States, according to new research by NREL. The amount of land available to deploy renewables depends on the characteristics of the ordinances.
July 12, 2023
The newly launched Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize, a $5.1 million competition administered by NREL, aims to help the country develop a cost-effective and sustainable domestic recycling industry for two high-impact categories of wind turbine materials to create a circular U.S. wind energy economy.
June 26, 2023
As part of a two-year project, three NREL postdocs are working hard to understand the impact of turbulent wind conditions on a type of concentrating solar power technology that uses a tube positioned along a curved, mirrored structure to collect sunlight.
June 26, 2023
The five Great Lakes contain 20% of the planet's freshwater resources. And, according to NREL research, they hold a wealth of wind energy potential that could enable states in the region to achieve their clean-energy goals, boost their economies with high-paying jobs, and provide a cleaner environment for residents.
June 21, 2023
Six teams competing in the the inaugural Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize have been named grand prize winners after their year-long efforts to advance an equitable and just clean energy ecosystem within their communities.
June 7, 2023
College students showcased their work in water power and wind energy at the final events for three DOE collegiate competitions: the inaugural Hydropower Collegiate Competition, fourth annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition, and 10th annual Collegiate Wind Competition.
May 23, 2023
NREL's newest building, the Research and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL), which will house multipurpose lab space, is the first laboratory building to open at NREL's Golden, Colorado, campus since the fall of 2013.
May 3, 2023
A panel of NREL wind experts joined an April 6 panel at NREL's Flatirons Campus, expanding on the tales included in NREL's "Clean Energy Innovators" book by Ernie Tucker.
April 18, 2023
Much aligned to Earth Day's theme of "Investing in Our Planet," the research and innovations developed at NREL are helping consumers contribute to our beautiful blue marble's future. Here are just a few of the ways.
April 13, 2023
Researchers at GE-GRC and NREL are studying the impact of low-level jet stream behavior along the Atlantic coast on coastal wind farm installations to find critical insights for a burgeoning U.S. wind energy economy.
March 29, 2023
The first NREL-administered, three-phase floating offshore wind energy prize has named nine Phase One winners, kicking off Phase Two.
March 28, 2023
In Fiscal Year 2022, NREL played a critical role in computing advancements for 300-plus clean energy research projects through high-performance computing (HPC), efficient data center operation, and state-of-the-art data visualization.
March 27, 2023
The USAID-NREL partnership's Advanced Energy Partnership for Asia released a high-fidelity wind data set for Southeast Asia through the Renewable Energy Data Explorer.
March 10, 2023
Four-year, multilab project analyzes the many benefits of distributed wind energy for communities across the United States.
March 10, 2023
The American-Made program, administered by NREL, features a collection of prizes designed to lower the barriers of entry to government funding, making the reward for great innovations accessible to all.
And now, the program's inherent goals--to leverage diversity, equity, and accessibility to accelerate the nation's collective problem solving
Feb. 20, 2023
The Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act, passed in 2019, set a goal for the territory to meet its electricity needs with 100% renewable energy by 2050. To support that goal, experts from NREL evaluated Puerto Rico's wind energy costs and technical potential.
Feb. 2, 2023
NREL files an average of about 170 patent applications annually and releases roughly 48 open-source software titles.
Feb. 1, 2023
By funding the cost of preliminary reviews for certification applicants, NREL is helping ensure that small- and medium-sized turbine designs can be certified for use in homes, schools, farms, and remote communities.
Feb. 1, 2023
From geospatial modeler to role model, Anthony Lopez shines in the STEM community.
Jan. 31, 2023
A pair of NREL reports evaluates how the U.S. supply chain can evolve to support the national offshore wind energy target and position the industry for sustainable growth beyond 2030.
Jan. 30, 2023
The PR100 one-year update on progress made during the first year of this two-year, stakeholder-informed study was presented to the advisory group of stakeholders and then to the public in a webinar on Jan. 23.
