WindPACT Turbine Rotor Design, Specific Rating Study; Period of Performance: June 29, 2000--March 1, 2003

In 2000, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) launched the Wind Partnerships for Advanced Component Technologies (WindPACT) program to examine ways in which the cost of wind energy could be reduced a further 30%. One element of the WindPACT program has been a series of design studies aimed at each of the major subsystems of the wind turbine to study the effect of scale and ofalternative design approaches. The WindPACT Turbine Rotor Design Study was carried out by Global Energy Concepts, LLC, (GEC) on behalf of NREL, and the final report was delivered in June 2002. The study examined what configuration and design changes in the rotor would reduce the overall cost of energy. The objectives of this report are to use the 1.5-MW baseline configuration from the earlierWindPACT Rotor Design Study to examine the effect of different power ratings and to identify an optimum specific rating; to examine the effect of different maximum tip speeds on overall cost of energy (COE); to examine the role of different wind regimes on the optimum specific rating; and to examine how the optimum specific rating may be affected by introducing more advanced blade designs.