AWWI and NREL Held Collaborative Forum on Integration of Risk Minimization Technologies

AWWI, with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), held a Technology Integration Forum on the afternoon of June 21 at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) in Boulder, CO.

The forum focused on bringing together stakeholders representing different sectors, including wind OEMs and operators, technology developers and vendors, NGOs, and regulators, to discuss the challenges of installing and integrating risk minimization technologies into operating wind energy facilities. AWWI moderated panel discussions featured wind companies, technology developers, and engineers sharing their experiences in technology integration. Breakout sessions prompted stakeholders from different sectors to discuss themes and questions around deploying technologies in a commercial setting.

Key themes that emerged included the level of coordination needed by wind sites to install technologies, the practical issues of integrating third-party systems, the importance for technologies to solve a problem for operators and show a return on investment, the uncertainty of how technologies fit into regulation and compliance, and the role of OEMs.

AWWI is now identifying next steps from the forum, including how to engage more stakeholder groups in the discussion and the best ways to collaborate on and share lessons learned.

The Integration Forum was preceded by NREL’s Technology Development & Innovation (TD&I) Open House at the NWTC on June 20 and the morning of June 21, which AWWI attended. The event included panels co-organized by AWWI on stakeholder perspectives and adjacent industries, as well as presentations on NREL’s TD&I program. Learn more about the Open House here.