National Wind Technology Center

Through the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), NREL drives wind energy innovations that will power a clean, sustainable energy future.

The NWTC has been a primary force in advancing wind energy technology research worldwide since its designation as a U.S. Department of Energy national research center in 1992. Today, more than 500 NREL researchers, scientists, analysts, and support personnel perform wind energy work in the NWTC, primarily at NREL’s Flatirons Campus.

Wind Energy Research and Development Excellence

Since its inception, the NWTC has been synonymous with excellence in wind energy research and advancement.

Enabled by the Flatirons Campus’ world-class facilities and NREL’s widely recognized data and tools, NWTC scientists and researchers are pushing the frontiers of science and engineering to pursue wind energy innovations to create a sustainable energy future powered by reliable, low-cost wind energy.

The NWTC’s outstanding performance record for working with the wind energy industry to advance wind energy science and lower the cost of wind-generated electricity inspires companies to partner with NREL when they:

• Need to overcome specific design challenges
• Wish to cost-share development of state-of-the-art wind technology
• Want to document the performance of their wind turbine components for certification.

Wind Energy Facilities To Advance the Industry

The NWTC represents the foundation of an expansion of the Flatirons Campus dedicated to advancing a comprehensive range of renewable energy technologies and systems and their integration into the electricity grid. The campus includes equipment such as:

• Test turbines
• Molds and 3D printers for turbine blades
• Dynamometers to evaluate drivetrain performance
• Stress testing for wind turbine blades
• Monitoring devices for wind speed and flow
• Solar panels, hydrogen tanks, and controllable grid interfaces to see how turbines can connect to a grid with or without hybrid renewable energy sources
• Modeling tools.

The wind energy innovations pursued by NWTC researchers support national climate action and research goals to ensure that the United States builds a 100% clean energy economy and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

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