US Department of Energy Allocates $48 Million For Offshore Wind Projects

US Department of Energy Allocates $48 Million For Offshore Wind Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) announced it intends to issue a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Offshore Wind National and Regional Research and Development.”

This opportunity will fund $48 million of projects that address several major areas of need for offshore wind, including accelerating research and development of offshore wind platforms, expanding the reach of the domestic supply chain, improving offshore wildlife protection through new monitoring technologies, and advancing academic leadership in floating offshore wind.

Together, successful projects addressing the following topic areas that may be included in the FOA will speed up the use of wind power off coasts and contribute to a robust US clean energy economy driven by a carbon-free power sector.

The plan by the DOE also aims to improve floating wind systems through innovation. Projects awarded under the subtopics may focus on near-term needs for initial floating wind projects, as well as long-term goals to reduce costs and increase efficiency in various aspects like validation, fabrication, installation, and operation. The goal is to create simpler, cost-effective designs that boost overall efficiency and energy production. The $7.5 million funding aims to overcome supply chain and deployment challenges by encouraging the use of innovative fixed-bottom offshore wind foundation designs and installation methods to make infrastructure (factories, ports, vessels) adaptable to various turbine sizes.

$8 million has been allocated to improve monitoring technologies for birds and bats near offshore wind structures while $5 million moved to use the Great Lakes region’s industrial capacity to tap into the national and global offshore wind markets by supporting manufacturing, technology innovation, and workforce development. Further $3.5 million has been given to support a university-led Center of Excellence to enhance the effectiveness, reliability, and sustainability of floating offshore wind projects through partnership with industry. Lastly, $4 million will be spent to understand how lightning affects floating and fixed offshore wind turbines to reduce future operations and maintenance costs.