Engineering Professor Leads National Project To Enhance Wind Energy Production

More than 10% of U.S. electricity is now generated from wind power and Colorado is among the top 10 states that produce energy through wind turbines. But extreme weather events—like snowstorms, ice storms, or freezing rainfall—severely impact this renewable energy source and destabilize power systems. That’s where CU Denver Engineering Professor Linyue Gao comes in.  

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Gao its prestigious CAREER grant, worth more than $500,000, to lead a team that will investigate how extreme weather affects wind turbines and find ways to improve their efficiency during these events. CAREER awards are highly competitive and recognize early career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. 

Wind and Ice 

Gao said that the rising incidence of winter extreme weather intensifies the vulnerability of renewable energy systems and impacts the livelihood of millions. Her research intends to provide data and recommendations that will help renewable energy companies operate their wind farms more efficiently year-round, including during winter months.  

The work may also lead to better turbine wind blade designs that are ice resistant. “Wind power is a big part of green energy,” said Gao, who specializes in fluid mechanics as they relate to green energy. “Globally, 30% of wind turbines in cold climate regions are affected by ice. Many U.S. wind farms are in areas impacted by winter weather. Right now, when it gets icy, wind farm operators generally turn off the turbines to prevent damage to their equipment. Our data will help them better prepare for winter months and adjust their systems to potentially compensate for the ice-induced power losses.” 

The Research 

Ice not only disrupts wind power generation, but it can also shorten the longevity of the turbine blades and pose safety risks. While Gao and others have studied this topic in laboratories, Gao and her students will use the grant to conduct research on working wind farms. They plan to run wind tunnel experiments, wind farm field measurements, numerical simulations, and data-driven modeling to better understand the underlying physics of ice across various scales.  

Their goal is to discover new and crucial insights for bridging the gap between idealized laboratory experiments and utility-scale turbines operating in natural environments. “While we aim to address some fundamental scientific questions in thermal fluid sciences, our work is also focused on delivering real-world solutions to develop more reliable, efficient, and robust wind power,” Gao said. 

The team will also provide advanced power forecasts for wind farms affected by extreme winter weather, which increases system resiliency by helping power system operators develop plans to address severe and sudden energy deficits. In Europe, for example, several wind farms have ice protection systems in place. But they are not as prevalent in the U.S. By looking at historical data and analyzing where ice is a significant problem, the CU Denver study can recommend which areas should invest in ice protection systems and which can likely forgo them.  

A Rising Workforce Need 

Colorado has invested more than $9.8 billion in wind energy, and about 28% of the state’s electricity comes from wind power. All of which makes Gao’s work of interest to Coloradans. But, Gao said, this research could apply to any state or nation that has wind farms. Texas, for example, leads among U.S. states by generating about 40,556 megawatts of wind power annually. Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma also generate large amounts of energy from wind power. Globally, China, Europe, India, and Brazil are leading producers of wind-power generation.  

Because the interest in wind-power generation is growing, the grant also provides funding to create a skill-driven microcredential program at CU Denver that could empower students with the skills and tools they’ll need to take advantage of jobs in this field. Wind turbine service technicians earned a median salary of more than $61,000 a year in 2023. This position is among the fastest growing occupations in the nation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which expects the career field to grow by 60 percent by 2033.   

To help address this need, the NSF grant will fund summer undergraduate internships for community college students in the Denver metro area so they can get hands-on research experience in wind tunnel experiments at CU Denver. “The need for this workforce is growing, in our region and especially along the East Coast, where offshore wind farms are currently operational and under construction,” Gao said. “That’s one reason for the skilled-based training.”