The NREL Controllable GridInterface Project is the first test facility in the U.S. with fault-simulation capabilities. It is also the only system in the world fully integrated with two dynamometers designed to work with four types of wind turbines. Designing and constructing the NREL Controllable Grid Interface (CGI) to help test the response of wind turbines was a highly technical design-build project unlike anything ever created.
The upgraded 5-MW dynamometer can test the largest wind turbine drivetrains used in land-based markets. Its capability to simulate wind loads in six degrees of freedom provides the most complete simulation of wind turbine-operating conditions available in North America. In addition, the new facility can simulate the grid connection to test low-voltage, ride-through capability and response to faults and other abnormal grid conditions.