New Distributed Wind Simulation Tool Accelerates Research from Lab to Field

Researchers at DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories are looking at ways to effectively and affordably power homes and businesses using wind energy generated and distributed close to customers through a suite of distributed wind R&D projects, including the DOE-funded Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL) project. To accelerate research from the lab to the field, two teams at Sandia are working with a custom-built distributed wind turbine emulator that combines advanced technologies with state-of-the-art simulation software to study how real wind turbines operate in a variety of power systems designs. These simulations allow researchers to see how wind turbines operate in different weather conditions and with different energy scenarios on distributed power systems, at less cost and risk than conducting such studies at an operating wind plant.

For more information on this capability, please contact Brian Naughton (bnaught@sandia.gov).