The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and wind energy developer Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES Americas) have formed a partnership to evaluate the design and performance of wind energy support systems.

The agreement is worth almost $500,000 over the next two years.

Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), NREL and RES Americas will investigate structural loads on foundations of operating wind turbines, thermal performance of underground collection system electrical cables, and side-by-side comparisons of alternative wind speed measurement systems. 

According to NREL, this research will lead to increased efficiency and reduced maintenance in the non-turbine components of a wind farm which will help to lower the overall cost of wind energy.

This CRADA will result in some of the first-ever measurements of loads inside and under the foundation of an operating wind turbine, said Jim Green, senior project lead at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center (NWTC).

RES Americas will contribute engineering designs needed for the foundations of two utility scale wind turbines to be installed at the NWTC this summer.