A DOE wOrkshOp On rEsEArch nEEDs fOr winD rEsOurcE chArActErizAtiOn

What: Atmospheric scientists and wind industry participants defined priorities for research in wind resource characterization to enable the expansion of wind power. When: 14–16 January 2008 Where: Broomfield, Colorado s energy demand increases, the need to reach beyond traditional hydrocarbon-based sources of power is becoming ever clearer and is in tandem with a compelling need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Despite significant wind resources, the U.S. currently obtains about 1% of its electric power from wind generation. A recent analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and the American Wind Energy Association demonstrated the technical feasibility of expanding the U.S. wind industry to meet 20% of U.S. electric power needs by 2030 (U.S. DOE 2008). Many of the challenges associated with a substantial increase in the use of wind energy ref lect fundamental gaps that remain in our knowledge of both atmospheric flow and the interaction of that flow with turbines. To better define these gaps, the DOE’s Office of Science and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy jointly convened a workshop to assess the current state of the science for wind power production and to define fruitful directions for research (Schreck et al. 2008). More than 120 international participants, representing national laboratories, academia, and the wind energy industry, attended the workshop, which focused on the following four potential research areas: 1) turbine dynamics, 2) micrositing and array effects, 3) mesoscale processes, and 4) climate effects. An overview of each area was followed by a discussion that included all participants. Based on the discussions, the participants generated recommendations for new research. The remainder of this report summarizes the reviews and then details the research recommendations from the workshop. (The full report is available online at www.nrel.gov/ docs/fy08osti/43521.pdf.)