The US DOE has selected the projects for the wind technology development including testing, demonstration, integration, and technical assistance
Image: The United States Department of Energy headquarters on Independence Avenue. Photo: Courtesy of US Department of Energy/Wikipedia.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has selected 13 projects to grant a total of $28m in funding to advance wind energy across the US.
According to the DOE, the US utility-scale, land-based wind energy has reached 96GW, but there are opportunities for cost reductions in the areas of offshore wind, distributed wind, and tall wind.
DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Assistant Secretary Daniel R Simmons said: “These projects will be instrumental in driving down technology costs and increasing consumer options for wind across the United States as part of our comprehensive energy portfolio.”
The selected projects will work on wind technology development including testing, demonstration, integration, and technical assistance, covering distributed, offshore, and land-based utility-scale wind energy sectors.
Details of project receiving the DOE funding
The grant includes a $6m federal funding for Four Wind Innovations for Rural Economic Development (WIRED) projects, including Bergey WindPower of Norman in Oklahoma, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of Palo Alto in California, Iowa State University of Ames in Iowa and The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association of Arlington in Virginia.
The federal funding for WIRED projects is aimed at supporting the rural electric utilities to integrate wind with other distributed energy resources, simplifying distributed wind energy through technical assistance and solutions.
The DOE has allocated a total of $7m funding for six projects, including the Clemson University of North Charleston, Lehigh University of Bethlehem, The Massachusetts Clean Energy Centre, Oregon State University, the Tufts University of Medford and The University of Massachusetts–Lowell.
The funding is aimed at testing support for advanced offshore wind research and development using existing national-level testing facilities.
A total of $10m funding will be awarded for two offshore wind technology demonstration projects including Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation of Cleveland, and the University of Maine at Orono, for demonstration of advanced technologies to reduce offshore wind energy risk and cost.
The Keystone Tower Systems of Westminster has been selected to award $5m for evaluating manufacturing improvements and cost-effective tall tower technology to overcome the transportation constraints faced by the tall tower installations in the US.