The NAWEA/WindTech 2023 Conference will offer workshops and tutorials in relevant software tools in wind energy simulation and research, as well as focused project meetings. These events will take place in person after the NAWEA/WindTech 2023 Conference on Nov. 2–3, 2023. 

These workshops and project meetings are open to the public, even those not attending the conference.

Registration for these events have closed, but please contact the event point of contact (POC) in the event descriptions below to see if they can accommodate more participants.

Schedule of Workshops and Side Meetings

The following is the tentative schedule of planned events. The locations of the events are still to be determined.

Read the full details about each event or download the schedule as an image.

Please note that these events are subject to change depending on the level of interest from attendees. The organizers will do their best to inform workshop registrants of changes, so please check this page and email alerts for the current status.

Post-Conference Educational Events
Time (MT) Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023   Friday, Nov. 3, 2023
8:00–10:00 a.m. University Program and Research Summit WOMBAT Workshop Data Hub / DAP Workshop – WETO Software Portfolio Workshop IEA Task 55 REFWIND Meeting IEA Wind Instrumentation Development Topical Expert Meeting Graduate Symposium
10:00–10:30 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. HOPP Workshop ExaWind Workshop – OpenFAST Workshop IEA Task 55 REFWIND Meeting (Continued) IEA Wind Instrumentation Development Topical Expert Meeting (Continued)
12:30–1:30 p.m. Working Lunch Presentation
Status Report on the Grand Challenges by Paul Veers
1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m. AWAKEN Public Review Meeting NAWEA Education Committee Meeting Social Science / IEA Task 28 Meeting – OpenFAST Workshop (Continued)
Ends at 5:30 p.m.		 IEA Task 55 REFWIND Meeting (Continued) IEA Wind Instrumentation Development Topical Expert Meeting (Continued) Graduate Symposium (Continued)
Ends at 5:30 p.m.
3:30–4:00 p.m. Break
4:00–6:00 p.m. RAAW Private Review Meeting NAWEA Business Meeting Social-Environmental Cross-Cutting Meeting FLORIS Workshop –  

Download the image below.

Agenda of workshops and side meetings after the NAWEA/WindTech 2023 Conference

Event Details

  • The U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) University Program and Research Summit: This will be a facilitated dialog to gain a deeper understanding of the educational programing and research needs of universities to address the Grand Challenges in Wind Energy Science and the expanded demand for highly skilled workers. This program is being implemented by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in support of the Department of Energy Wind Energy Technology Office. Session is open to the public but will be focused on faculty and administrative representatives from undergraduate and graduate educational institutions. 

View schedule.

WETO Public Project Meetings

  • AWAKEN Public Review Meeting: This meeting is an overview of the current status of the American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN), with highlights of most recent observations and simulations and developing benchmarks to be used by the international wind energy community to help improve understanding and modeling of wind farm atmosphere interactions.
  • RAAW Review Meeting: The Rotor Aerodynamics Aeroelastics and Wake (RAAW) project is a 3-year partnership between NREL, Sandia National Laboratories, and GE Vernova that includes field measurements and simulations of a 2.8-megawatt General Electric wind turbine. The focus of the field campaign is to characterize the turbulent inflow to the wind turbine, its aerodynamic and aeroelastic response, and its wake. These detailed measurements are then used to further understand the aero-servo-elastics of tall wind turbines with flexible blades and to validate models and simulation tools across various levels of fidelity. This meeting takes place right after the completion of the field campaign and will provide a forum for the discussion of research results to date and the coordination of data analysis and simulation work in the final year of the project. This is a private working meeting.

View schedule.

NREL Wind Energy Software Workshops

  • OpenFAST Workshop: Attention wind turbine modeling enthusiasts! NREL is hosting a workshop on OpenFAST on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, from 10:30–5:30 p.m. in Broomfield, Colorado. OpenFAST is an open-source, physics-based engineering software tool applicable to the coupled simulation of land-based, fixed-bottom, and floating offshore wind turbines. This workshop will provide attendees with an overview of the tool and related software, recent improvements and developments, modeling guidance and tips, demonstrations, source code control, automated testing, compiling, Q&A time, and information on how to get involved. The OpenFAST workshop will be led by Jason Jonkman, Emmanuel Branlard, and Rafael Mudafort of NREL. Please note that the workshop is limited to the first 50 registrants.
  • WOMBAT Workshop: This workshop will provide a comprehensive overview to Windfarm Operations and Maintenance cost-Benefit Analysis Tool (WOMBAT), NREL’s first wind O&M software model. The session will discuss how to utilize WOMBAT to answer O&M research questions covering land-based, offshore, and distributed wind farms. It will offer an introduction to the model and how it operates. The team will then offer a demonstration of the various modeling parameters by converting the CORE Wind Floating Wind Strategies O&M Assessment assumptions into an analysis-ready configuration, diving into the results, and exploring further model variations.
  • HOPP Workshop: This workshop will provide an overview of Hybrid Optimization and Performance Platform (HOPP), which enables the design, simulation and technoeconomic analysis of hybrid energy systems. The workshop will cover a general overview of the software capabilities and structure. Afterward, the workshop will present a hands-on tutorial on the installation and use of the package, covering the setup and a few simulation examples using different hybrid energy system configurations.
  • Leveraging Wind Data Hub to Enhance Data Analysis Workshop (DAP): Do you spend a lot of time and effort curating and processing data before conducting your analysis? Working with standardized data not only saves time and effort but improves data compatibility, reusability, and interoperability. Standardized data can also accelerate analyses of instrument- and model-based data, increase their reliability, and advance science. This class will provide a comprehensive understanding of the importance of data and metadata standards. Participants will gain knowledge about the various standards used by the Wind Data Hub for collecting, organizing, and managing atmospheric science, sensors and wind energy data, ensuring accuracy, interoperability, and efficient data exchange. By exploring real-world examples and practical applications, this class aims to empower attendees with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively utilize data and metadata standards with their work. For more information, please contact the Wind data hub team at dapteam@pnnl.gov.
  • ExaWind Overview and Workshop:This educational session will provide an overview of the high-fidelity ExaWind software suite, describing the purpose of the codes within the suite and demonstrating the breadth of functionality within ExaWind. Following the overview, a brief tutorial of AMR-Wind will be offered, touching on installation, setup, and wind energy simulations at small and large scales.
  • WETO Software Portfolio Overview and Analysis Workshop: The WETO software portfolio covers many aspects of the wind energy research and engineering toolchain. NREL researchers have recently engaged in mapping the WETO software portfolio to understand current capabilities and gaps as well as identify a coordinated roadmap for future development. All findings will be hosted in an online dashboard to serve as a community entry point to the WETO software portfolio. This workshop will provide an overview of the findings and present the online dashboard. Additionally, a guided discussion will be included to provide an opportunity for community engagement and feedback in the portfolio mapping and planning process.
  • FLORIS Workshop: The FLOw Redirection and Induction in Steady State (FLORIS) tool enables existing wind energy facilities to improve productivity and future projects to maximize profits by optimizing flow control strategies, like wake steering. This tutorial will introduce FLORIS, including background on the models, a brief presentation of previous results, and a hands-on demonstration.

View schedule.

IEA Wind Task Meetings

View schedule.

NAWEA Meetings 

  • The annual NAWEA Business meeting and Educational Committee meeting will be held to discuss the future of the organization and set a path to meet the NAWEA mission.
    • NAWEA Business Meeting POC: With any questions, contact Paul Veers, Paul.veers@nrel.gov.
    • NAWEA Educational Committee Meeting POC: With any questions, contact Suhas Pol, Texas Tech University, Suhas.Pol@ttu.edu.

View schedule.

Graduate Student Symposium

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