WESD Wind Energy Science Discussions WESD Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss. 2366-7621 Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/wes-2026-51 Wind Tunnel Testing for Wind Energy: A State-of-the-Art Review Manolesos Marinos 1 Aubrun Sandrine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0440-3005 2 Bak Christian 3 Bettini Paolo 4 Campagnolo Filippo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3511-7981 5 Croce Alessandro https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7640-5253 4 Dar Arslan Salim https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2954-7475 6 Hölling Michael https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4736-8526 7 8 Ivanell Stefan https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4896-6771 9 Kellaris Konstantinos https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6825-9479 1 Mendez Miguel Alfonso 10 11 12 Montinari Pierluigi 4 Mühle Franz https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1316-3015 5 Papadakis George https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2742-5258 13 Porté-Agel Fernardo 14 Ragni Daniele 15 Randino Sebastiano https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9186-9371 10 16 Sciacchitano Andrea 15 Schena Lorenzo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7183-0242 10 17 Schepers Gerard 18 19 Segalini Antonio https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8667-0520 20 Yu Wei https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7829-6129 15 Bottasso Carlo Luigi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9931-4389 5 School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Ir. Politechniou 9, Zografou 15772, Athens, Greece Nantes Université, École Centrale Nantes, CNRS, LHEEA, UMR 6598, 44000 Nantes, France DTU Wind and Energy Systems, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark Politecnico di Milano, Department of Aerospace Science and Technology, Via G. La Masa 34, 20156, Milan, Italy Wind Energy Institute, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching b. München, Germany Department of Marine Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Professor JHL Vogts veg 1a, 7052 Trondheim, Norway Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, School of Mathematics and Science, Institute of Physics, Germany ForWind - Center for Wind Energy Research, Küpkersweg 70, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Visby 62167, Sweden von Karman Institute, Rhode-St-Genése, 1640, Belgium Aero-Thermo-Mechanics Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique de Bruxelles, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. Franklin Roosevelt 50, Brussels, 1050, Belgium Aerospace Engineering Research Group, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Av. de la Universidad 30, 28911 Leganés, Spain School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Ir. Politechniou 9, Zografou 15710, Athens, Greece Wind Engineering and Renewable Energy Laboratory (WIRE), Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, 1015-Lausanne, Switzerland Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Kluyverweg 1, Delft, 2629 HS, the Netherlands SAAS, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1150, Brussels, Belgium Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels, 1050, Belgium Entrance - Centre of Expertise Energy, Hanze UAS, 9747AS Groningen, the Netherlands TNO Energy and Materials Transition, 1755LE Petten, the Netherlands Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden 08 04 2026 2026 1 148 Copyright: © 2026 Marinos Manolesos et al. 2026 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://wes.copernicus.org/preprints/wes-2026-51/ The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://wes.copernicus.org/preprints/wes-2026-51/wes-2026-51.pdf

Wind tunnel testing is essential for the advancement of wind energy, providing the "ground truth" necessary to validate numerical and data-driven models. However, the increasing size of modern turbines introduces significant challenges, including aerodynamic scaling, tunnel blockage, and the need to simulate complex atmospheric boundary layers. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in wind energy experimental aerodynamics, covering inflow conditions, airfoil performance, aeroacoustics, and aeroelasticity. It further examines the integration of wind tunnel data with CFD modeling, field measurements, and data science. By synthesizing current progress and identifying inherent limitations, this review provides a critical outlook on future directions for the experimental wind engineering community.