Sandia National Laboratories conducts applied wind energy research in several areas to increase the viability of wind technology by improving wind turbine performance and reducing their cost. The program is divided into three major programmatic areas: Low Wind Speed Technology (LWST), Supporting Research and Technology (SR&T) and Technology Applications (TA).

In the LWST area, Sandia is supporting public-private partnerships for multiple large wind system to achieve the goal of 3 cents/kWh in class 4 winds by 2012.

In SR&T, Sandia is conducting enabling research on blades that is directly related to achieving the goals for the LWST. We are concentrating on the aerodynamic and structural design of wind turbine blades. Under the Long-term Inflow and Structural Test (LIST) program we also study how rare atmospheric events can impact the long-term structural integrity of wind turbines and how advanced data handling techniques can be successfully applied to the difficult field environment of operating wind turbines.

Our work is a joint program with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under the auspices of the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In all our approaches, we use formal and informal teaming arrangements to work closely with wind turbine manufacturers, wind farm developers and operators, and other DOE laboratories.

A complete bibliography and many online abstracts and full reports are provided here.

HIGHLIGHTS: The 2008 Wind Turbine Blade Workshop will be held May 12-14 in Albuquerque, NM at the Albuquerque Marriott. Registration information and Updated Program available online.