This is an excerpt from the Fourth Quarter 2011 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is moving its wind energy test facility to a new location near the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. This new wind energy testing center will boost the nation's clean energy workforce while improving the performance of wind energy technologies.

The Lubbock site will include an initial installation of two 225-kilowatt wind turbines and three anemometer towers, with the potential to expand to nine or more wind turbines that will allow researchers to examine how individual turbines and whole wind farms can become better citizens of the grid and how they can be more productive and collaborative, said Jon White, SNL project lead. SNL, Texas Tech, and Group National Institute of Renewable Energy (NIRE) are pursuing a three-way research agreement under which the new facility will operate. Researchers at the site will perform primarily experimental work in turbine-to-turbine interactions and will evaluate innovative rotor technologies. They will also investigate such areas as aero-acoustics, aero-elasticity and structural health monitoring using embedded sensor systems. This research will help manufacturers and developers improve turbine reliability and overall wind farm performance. Group NIRE will install additional wind turbines at an adjacent site for testing and collaboration, and will support technology transfer and commercialization efforts.

"Wind flows into a turbine, and we understand how the turbine responds," said White. "But what we aren't as clear on is what happens to the wind as it leaves that turbine and moves to the next turbine. We don't have a great deal of clarity about how wind turbines interact with each other. Once you understand that, you can better optimize performance for an entire wind farm rather than just focusing on optimizing individual turbines."

Researchers will also continue work on the structural mechanical adaptive rotor technology (SMART) program at the Lubbock site. "Most wind turbine rotors today are passive structures. Sandia's SMART rotors have active surfaces similar to airplane wings, with actuators that change their shape, allowing for greater control and flexibility," said White.

Selecting a location was not easy, said Dave Minster, SNL's wind energy technologies group manager. Potential wind farm and wind research sites fall into classes of one through five, with class five winds being the preferred wind for research and for harvesting energy. However, only a small percentage of available sites are class five. Winds vary year-round and change seasonally, Minster said, so the site needed to be carefully characterized to ensure year-round quality wind for rapid evaluation of technologies.

But a great facility takes more than wind.

"We looked for a location that not only had a great wind resource, but also had a true commitment to wind energy; the partnership with Texas Tech does just that," White said.

The Texas Tech University Wind Science and Engineering (WISE) Center, located at Reese Technology Center, offers the collaboration a 35-year history in wind science research.

"WISE has a strong academic program from which to draw faculty and students and significant facilities that include a 200-meter anemometer tower, a 9,000-square-foot assembly building, and a class 5 (very energetic) wind site," White said. Students and faculty at Texas Tech will use the test facility to study wind energy technology and gain hands-on experience. The wind turbines at the test site will be grid-connected, and revenue that is generated by selling the energy produced will go toward scholarships and research grants for students pursuing careers in wind energy.

SNL's wind energy program has shared an instrumental partnership for more than 35 years with the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) large research facility in Bushland, Texas. Much of SNL's wind testing has taken place at the Bushland site, from the early days of vertical-axis wind turbines to today's work on sensors and smart rotors. Given the research needs of the industry, however, SNL and the USDA agreed that a different location was in the best interest of both organizations.

"The Lubbock site will continue the tradition of evaluating the next generation technology, such as SMART rotor, operational load monitoring and structural health monitoring technologies that seek to improve energy capture and reduce operations and maintenance costs," said Minster. Minster expects work at the Lubbock facility to begin by winter of 2012.

DOE's Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California, SNL has major research and development responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.