National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Acquisition Services Center, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393

A -- UNIVERSITY PARTICIPATION PROGRAM FOR WIND ENERGY RESEARCH Sol. Synopsis No. 96-W01. POC: Laura K. Justice, Subcontract Associate, (303) 384-7018, Neil D. Wikstrom, Team Leader, (803) 384-6960. Sought -- Wind Energy Conversion: University participation program for wind energy research. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Wind Energy Research Program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is planning to issue a solicitation during the first part of June 1996 for letters of interest (LOIs) to perform research on topics pertinent to wind energy conversion. This University participation Program for Wind Energy Research supports research with the intent of promoting the involvement of U.S. educational institutions in NREL wind energy research sponsored by DOE, enlarging the base of scientific and technical knowledge related to the conversion of wind resources to useful energy and developing highly qualified scientific and technical personnel to meet future national needs. The purpose of this announcement is to inform U.S. universities of the forthcoming procurement and seek expressions of interest in participation in NREL's wind energy research and development programs in the following two target areas. Two areas of wind energy research have been targeted for consideration in this year's solicitation; aerodynamics and turbine inflow structure. Current rotor performance prediction methods fail to account for three dimensional flow effects in the near and post stall operation range. Additional theory based on analytic and/or empirical methods is required to extend current performance models to account for deviations from two dimensional prediction methods. Inflow turbulence is responsible for intermittent machine power spikes which routinely exceed 50 to 100% of rated machine maximum values. These excursions are the result of coherent eddies in the inflow that vary in size strength and orientation. New experimental methods, such as LIDAR (Light Direction And Ranging) etc., are necessary to characterize these inflow structures in order to better understand vortex/rotor interactions. A maximum of two awards are contemplated ranging from $100,000 to $200,000 per year for three years, subject to the quality of the proposals and the availability of fiscal year funding. Organizations desiring a copy of the solicitation should make a written request to the above address, referencing Synopsis No. 96-W01. Telephone requests will not be accepted. Written requests will be accepted until May 24, 1996. (127)

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