As part of a US Department of Energy (DOE) initiative to drive new levels of performance in wind turbine technology a GE 1.5MW wind turbine was commissioned at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

The GE machine will serve as a platform for research projects aimed at improving the performance of wind turbine technology and lowering the costs of wind energy. Key areas of research will include power performance testing, gathering and analysing turbine loading data, designing advanced turbine controls, developing advanced turbine components and studying wind farm performance data.