NOI 2025023428.pdf

Notice of Intent NOI-2025023428 to Issue Request for Proposals in Fundamental Aerodynamics for Offshore Wind Performance and Reliability

Dec. 13, 2024 The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) intends to issue, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), a request for proposal (RFP) for research in Fundamental Aerodynamics for Offshore Wind Performance and Reliability. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Provision 41007(b)(1), the subcontract(s) will be awarded via a competitive process and have the primary goal to create and publicly disseminate validation quality benchmark aerodynamic datasets that characterize the fundamental and limiting aerodynamic behaviors of airfoils and blades as modern wind turbines scale up in size.

Technical Objectives Modern offshore wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever built by humankind. As the scale of commercial wind turbine size increases, so does the risk to the investment in development and the reliability and performance expectations from the larger designs. The intended RFP would seek applications from U.S. industry and academia to provide the necessary data and analysis for validating and developing tools used in the design and development of very large commercial wind turbine rotors, accelerating the development and deployment of cost-effective offshore wind technology.

Specifically, NREL, seeks to address the lack of high-quality, open-source experimental data on the aerodynamic behavior of wind turbine airfoils in operation at high Reynolds numbers that are representative of the high wind speeds and large sizes of rotor blades in wind turbines of approximately 10–15 megawatts (MW) and beyond. At these scales, another problem is the uncertainty and magnitude of loads on wind turbine blades when the turbine is idling or parked for installation, maintenance, or during the passage of extreme weather events. In such situations, the ability of current simulation techniques to accurately characterize the unsteady, three-dimensional (3D) aerodynamic/aeroelastic behaviors is also unvalidated. As a result, turbine designs can either be overly conservative—hence, expensive—or can risk damage in certain wind conditions.

This RFP would provide up to $6.25 million in total funding to selected U.S. research and development applicants from industry and academia to be split among two topic areas.

Topic Area 1: High Reynolds Number Airfoil Aerodynamics Validation Datasets Applicants will create and execute an experimental test program that delivers foundational, validation-quality aerodynamic measurements across a Reynolds number range of 3–20 million for a set of modern wind turbine natural laminar flow airfoils. The primary high Reynolds number testing (to reach 20 million) is to be conducted at a designated U.S. national test facility to deliver a minimum set of integrated performance measurements and flow diagnostics needed to guide modeling improvements (for prediction of transition, separation, etc.).

To make this dataset comprehensive, secondary testing at lower Reynolds number wind tunnels is also sought; this is expected to deliver full 360-degree airfoil polars for the same airfoil set, measurements in quieter (laminar) inflow conditions to characterize sensitivities to inflow turbulence variations, and other creative extensions to drive turbulence modeling for achieving Reynolds number scaling accuracy in simulation.

The funding allocation for this topic is estimated to be approximately $4.75 million with one award anticipated; financial support to cover operational expenses for the minimum test requirements at the core facility on the order of $2.5 million will be provided directly by DOE to the facility operator via an Interagency Agreement. The minimum test matrix comprises testing a reference airfoil for calibration with past international high Reynolds number aerodynamics research (the DU00-W-212) and two modern airfoils of 21% and 30% thickness-to-chord ratios of the proposer’s choice.

The definition of modern airfoils (via performance and other metrics) will be elaborated in the RFP; one possible route could be airfoils used by a blade/wind turbine manufacturer in a modern rotor introduced to the utility-scale market after 2020, which would already have low Reynolds number datasets to establish their credentials.

Topic Area 2: Aerodynamic Characterization of Nonoperational Loads Phenomena Applicants will design and execute experiments to characterize the 3D unsteady aerodynamics of a wind turbine blade in a state representative of conditions that drive wind turbine non-operational loads, e.g., standstill/stall- or vortex-induced vibrations. The blades could be aero-elastically scaled, rigid, or full scale. The design and execution of unsteady airfoil tests tailored to represent key phenomena from these blade vibration scenarios will also be welcome. The goal is to deliver open datasets that will help develop and validate improved modeling and simulation tools for the behavior of idling or parked wind blades.

The funding allocation for this topic is estimated to be approximately $1.5 million with one or two awards anticipated.

The Solicitation Process

NREL envisions awarding financial assistance awards in the form of subcontracts with estimated periods of performance up to 3 years. Potential applicants are encouraged to form teams between academia and wind turbine or blade original equipment manufacturers and technology providers, especially for Topic Area 1. In this topic area, the applicant team’s experience designing/testing airfoils used in modern wind turbines will be critical. Note that a cost share of 10%–20% is expected, and the awards are not intended to fund facility or wind tunnel refurbishments or improvements.

The RFP is expected to be issued by NREL in mid to late January 2025 via the System for Award Management (SAM) at https://www.sam.gov. The proposal requirements will be conceptually like those used by other WETO funding opportunities in 2024. The review process is expected to take from 4 to 6 weeks with a target announcement date of March 31, 2025; project execution after completion of contractual negotiations and agreements is expected to start by Sept. 20, 2025.

This Notice of Intent is issued so that interested parties are aware of the NREL’s intention to issue this RFP in the near term. All the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. NREL will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the RFP has been released, NREL will provide an avenue for potential applicants to submit questions and will host an information session (webinar). To receive a direct notification when the RFP is released, please contact NREL’s Acquisition Services

Subcontract Administrator Kyndall Jackson (Kyndall.Jackson@nrel.gov).

In preparation:

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