Wind Energy Technologies Office
February 20, 2019
On February 20, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the 12 collegiate teams selected to participate in the 2020 Collegiate Wind Competition. The selected colleges and universities will compete in multidisciplinary challenges to develop a project plan based on wind energy market and siting considerations, design and build a model wind turbine, and test their turbine against a set of rigorous performance criteria. Students will earn valuable real-world experience as they prepare to enter the workforce.
The 2020 competition will take place at the American Wind Energy Association's WINDPOWER Conference in Denver, Colorado, on June 1–4, 2020.
In October, 2018, the DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) held a workshop to better understand how the office can best support rural electric utilities and communities with evaluating and integrating distributed wind systems.
The Wind Innovations for Rural Economic Development (WIRED) Workshop invited representatives from the U.S. government, national laboratories, rural electric utilities from around the country, national associations, the wind energy industry, and the financial community to participate and share information about their unique needs, challenges, and experiences with distributed energy resources and distributed wind energy systems, especially in rural areas. The WIRED Workshop Report summarizes perspectives from participants and key findings.
Thousands of variables go into a wind plant and changing a single one can have a widespread effect. Fortunately, the process can be simplified using open-source software developed at NREL with funding from DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office. Called WISDEM®—Wind Plant Integrated Systems Design & Engineering Model—it's the only full-system design and analysis software available to the wind industry. WISDEM can model a range of factors—including wind inflow, grid integration, operational expenditures, and overall cost of energy—to determine how wind plant operators can best streamline operations, increase energy capture, and generate additional revenue in nearly every facet of wind plant operation.
WISDEM, which was selected as a 2018 R&D 100 Award finalist by R&D Magazine, has been used to demonstrate how research sponsored by DOE translates into enhanced energy output. Future research will validate the entire suite of high- and mid-fidelity computational capabilities that are critical to continued innovation. What does this all add up to? More answers for wind plant operators. WISDEM empowers them to make a technical decision here, an adjustment there, and maybe an investment over there, all with the wisdom that every factor has been considered. Read more in the new EERE Success Story.
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