Knoxville, Tenn.-based EnerNex Corp. has been awarded a grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) for a wind energy project to help facilitate the goal of 20% wind by 2030 in an effort to expand the nation's renewable energy deployment.
EnerNex, working through the Utility Wind Integration Group's (UWIG) turbine modeling and interconnection study user group, will develop enhanced documentation, user support and validations of computer models used to evaluate the impacts of wind energy on the bulk electric power system.
The goal of the two-phase project is to accelerate the appropriate use of generic wind turbine models for transmission network analysis. The first phase will focus on the existing generic models, as well as the substantial number of turbine-specific models that have been developed by vendors over the past several years.
The second phase builds on the first and takes on the difficult task of locating and acquiring test data from the laboratory, field or much more detailed simulation models to conduct a validation for each generic model application.
‘Most transmission planning engineers in the U.S. recognize that proper computer models for wind turbines and wind plants are a vital and urgent need,’ says Bob Zavadil, vice president and co-founder of EnerNex. ‘On the present course, it would take another five to 10 years to get to where we hope to be through this project in just two years.’
The core project team comprises of companies and individuals that have been involved in the development of wind turbine and wind plant models for over a decade, including GE Energy, Siemens-PTI and UWIG.
In addition, Sandia National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will work with EnerNex on the effort.
SOURCE: EnerNex Corp.
