The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is embarking on significant improvements at its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). Engineers are installing the two largest turbines ever tested at the laboratory – a 1.5 MW turbine manufactured by General Electric and a 2.3 MW turbine from Siemens Power Generation.
Both turbines are being erected on the NWTC's eastern perimeter for commissioning and operations in October. With data from these experiments, researchers will be working with the wind industry to increase turbine performance, improve durability and decrease loads, according to NREL.
The new wind turbines are expected to generate twice as much energy as the NWTC uses. The Department of Energy (DOE), NREL and Xcel Energy are working to define an agreement that will allow surplus energy to be exported and sold to the local utility grid.
The DOE purchased the 1.5 MW turbine for the NWTC, which will operate atop a 262-foot steel tower. The diameter of its rotor will reach 253 feet.
The Siemens turbine will use a second tower of the same height, but its rotor diameter is 331 feet, which is more than 30% bigger than the DOE turbine. The Siemens turbine employs an advanced new rotor design that needs field testing in the NWTC's gusty and challenging conditions. Siemens' research office in Boulder, Colo., will provide engineering support and maintenance.
Among the questions researchers will address are the microclimate in which the turbine operates, the aerodynamics of the turbine design and the effects of turbulence on its load and performance and how all these factors may combine in potentially unforeseen ways.
NREL is providing the site; the foundation and the electrical connection for the turbine; the cost of delivery; installation services and expertise in field aerodynamics testing; structure and reliability testing; and meteorological analysis. NREL and Siemens have signed a cooperative research and development agreement that is expected to continue into 2014.
SOURCE: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
