In recent years, the production of electrical power from wind in the U.S. has accelerated. Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established the feasibility for 20% of U.S. electricity to be generated from wind by the year 2030. At the same time, fundamental gaps remain in our ability describe, understand, and forecast lower boundary layer flows, especially in complex terrain, where many wind plants are being sited. Our knowledge of the interaction of the real turbulent atmosphere with turbines is similarly incomplete.

During 14–16 January 2008, DOE sponsored “Research Needs for Wind Resource Characterization”, a workshop intended to identify specific research areas for which additional understanding is needed to support developing wind energy applications. The workshop brought together more than 100 scientists and industry representative from North America and Europe. This paper will describe the research issues identified by the workshop and summarize the specific research recommendations.