The Leading Edge: August 2024 Wind Energy Newsletter

In this issue, NREL highlights new offshore wind energy report, research on pitch bearing reliability, and more.

Upwind: Featured News

Annual NREL-Authored Report Outlines Offshore Wind Energy Industry Progress

Wind turbine construction in October 2023 at Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts. Photo by Joe DelNero, NREL

Some major advancements were made this year in the offshore wind energy industry—from delivery of the first commercial offshore wind power to U.S. communities to increasing state-level support to growing investments in vital infrastructure. These gains are all outlined in the recently released Offshore Wind Market Report: 2024 Edition, authored by National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers who bring deep expertise in wind energy technologies and trends, supply chain and infrastructure development, and techno-economic analysis. The report includes data on offshore wind energy projects in the global fleet through Dec. 31, 2023, and significant U.S. domestic progress and events from Jan. 1, 2023, through May 31, 2024. The data found in the report, which is created on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office, inform policymakers, researchers, and analysts about technology and market trends.

Behind the Blades

Behind the Blades: Future Wind Energy Leaders Earn Their Stripes as NREL Interns

A collage showing the head shots of six interns — Six undergraduate and graduate-level interns shared their NREL wind energy internship experiences. Pictured here are (top row, from left) Bianca Calderon, Kyle Devlin, and Storm Mata, (bottom row, from left) Vishnu Sankar Manivasakan, Anjal Paudel, and Leah Sirkis.

Every year, hundreds of undergraduate and graduate college students complete internships at NREL, where they gain hands-on experience, strengthen their professional networks, and support the lab’s clean energy goals. The Leading Edge shot the breeze with six interns—Bianca Calderon, Kyle Devlin, Storm Mata, Vishnu Sankar Manivasakan, Anjal Paudel, and Leah Sirkis—who participated in NREL’s wind energy research. We learned about their work, proudest achievements, and hopes for the future. Read the full interview to learn how these interns are driving innovation in wind energy and shaping their futures in renewable energy.

On the Radar: Project Updates

New Multimaterial Design and Printing Methods May Reduce Need for Rare Earth Magnets in Turbines

2D and 3D models of magnets for wind turbines — The MADE3D team is working to improve the performance in electric machines with reduced rare-earth magnets for wind turbines, through advanced design optimization and 3D printing as seen in this 2D models of a radial flux permanent magnet generator. *Photos by NREL*

To reduce the costs and increase the sustainability of wind energy, innovations are needed in the design and manufacture of efficient, reliable, high-torque-dense wind turbine generators that use lower levels of rare earth magnet content. A new study is identifying novel ways to design these generators such that they can be manufactured on-site using cutting-edge three-dimensional (3D) printed polymer-bonded permanent magnets and steel. The study was outlined in Wind Energy (impact factor 4.1) by National Wind Technology Center researchers and colleagues in the collaborative Manufacturing and Additive Design of Electric Machines by 3D Printing project funded by DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office. By using powerful new machine-learning-enabled software for multimaterial design and advanced 3D printing methods, researchers identified better-performing designs with less magnet mass, higher efficiency, and lower cogging torque when compared with a baseline 15-kW generator.

Collaboration To Provide New Insights on Pitch Bearing Reliability

NREL researchers recently worked with the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems and more than 20 wind turbine and pitch bearing suppliers to publish an updated design guideline for pitch bearings. Existing land-based wind power plants are aging, and developers are installing larger offshore wind turbines. In both cases, it’s essential for developers to understand how reliable their pitch bearings are.

Pitch bearings allow wind plant operators to adjust the position of wind turbine blades to, for example, avoid the full force of especially powerful winds. If one breaks, the downtime can be costly for plant owners. This new design guideline describes advances in research and field experiences—including a better understanding of the operating conditions and damage mechanisms, advances in computational design, and publicly available test results—that will facilitate more reliable designs than the original design guideline published in 2009.

Downwind: In Case You Missed It

New Cooperative Releases Plan To Study, Mitigate Wind Energy Impact on Bats

A silver-haired bat rests on person’s hand — The silver-haired bat, shown here, is a common migratory bat found across North America. Photo from Cris Hein, NREL

As the United States installs more wind energy projects to combat climate change, there’s a growing need for research on how wildlife and habitats may be directly or indirectly impacted. To address this gap, NREL partners with several organizations on the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative, which brings together experts in bat ecology, conservation, and the wind energy industry and technologies. The cooperative just released a 5-year plan, which outlines how it plans to address research gaps and identify and share science-based solutions to cost-effectively quantify and mitigate any impact.

Upcoming Events, News Mentions, Recent Publications

Upcoming Events

Perspectives on Wind-Wildlife Constraints to Buildout Webinar 2: Operations
Sept. 3, 2024, Virtual
NREL’s Enabling Coexistence Options for Wind and Wildlife project team is hosting a webinar series featuring experts from diverse fields related to the wind energy and wildlife domain. This webinar will feature presentations on loads analysis, controls, and grid planning for wind facility operations.

Driving Investment in Wind Energy: An Introduction to Incentives and the Inflation Reduction Act
Sept. 10, 2024, Virtual

This webinar by the WINDExchange Initiative will host experts from the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center and NREL to explore the key incentives supporting investment in wind energy deployment and manufacturing in the United States as well as the role the Inflation Reduction Act plays in shaping those investments.

2024 Sandia Blade Workshop
Sept. 16–20, 2024, Albuquerque, New Mexico

This workshop brings together wind industry experts, wind power plant stakeholders and operators, manufacturers, and researchers to network, address the major topics for wind turbine blades, and identify future technology pathways.

2024 Distributed Wind Energy Summit
Sept. 17, 2024, Virtual

Join Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and NREL in this collaborative, virtual event to learn about, discuss, and act on opportunities for distributed wind energy.

Wind Works Forum
Sept. 23–26, Virtual

Wind Works Forum is a virtual networking event that helps connect career seekers in wind energy with industry members and education and training program administrators.

American Floating Offshore Wind Technical Summit
Sept. 24–25, 2024, Portland, Maine

Join leading experts at the American Floating Offshore Wind Technical Summit to address the drivers and challenges of developing the offshore wind industry in Maine and other Northeast states.

North American Wind Energy Academy/WindTech 2024 Conference
Oct. 30–Nov. 1, 2024, New Brunswick, New Jersey

The North American Wind Energy Academy/Wind Tech 2024 conference is taking place at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, New Jersey, this fall. The event will feature software workshops, a graduate student symposium, and more than 20 scientific tracks.