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

In June, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) published the first formal report on the efforts of the Gearbox Reliability Collaborative (GRC) to address a major challenge for the wind energy industry—gearbox reliability. Gearbox failures require expensive and time-consuming replacement, significantly increasing the cost of wind plant operation while reducing the plant's power output and revenue. In an effort to help industry increase gearbox reliability, DOE and NREL launched the Wind Turbine Gearbox Reliability Collaborative (GRC) in 2006 to validate the typical gearbox design process through a comprehensive dynamometer and field-test program on extensively instrumented gearboxes. The collaborative brought together a team of the world's leading turbine manufacturers, consultants, and experts from more than 30 companies and organizations.

The report published by NREL—GRC Project Report: Findings from Phase 1 and Phase 2 Testing—provides a description of the project's major objectives, the activities that have been conducted to date, and, most significantly, a listing of findings that will help to improve wind turbine gearbox reliability. The report also contains recommendations for future research.