The US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced that $18.5 million will be funded for an offshore wind research and development (R&D) consortium that will conduct US specific research, in order to reduce the cost of offshore wind in the US.
The consortium will be a private-public innovation hub addressing topics such as wind plant technology advancement, resource and physical site characterization, installation, operations and maintenance and supply chain technology solutions.
“As the former Governor of one of the largest wind producing states, I know the value of wind power in our energy portfolio. This work will further DOE’s goal to accelerate the development of offshore wind technologies by supporting fundamental research to reduce the costs of offshore wind energy to successfully compete in regional energy markets,” Secretary Perry stated.
The US is capitalizing on momentum in the offshore wind market, with the nation’s first commercial offshore wind project, the Block Island Wind Farm, and additional projects proposed along America’s coastlines.
However, the United States face several specific challenges that require industry-wide collaboration to reduce costs.
For this reason, a new EERE Blog series discusses these challenges, such as deep water requiring floating foundations, the need for models predicting how Atlantic hurricanes will impact offshore turbines, and supply chain and operations and maintenance solutions to address the challenges of building and maintaining turbines at sea.
With this funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) wants to select an administrator to coordinate the R&D activities conducted by the consortium.
The consortium will consists of members of the offshore wind industry, who will fund to the consortium and use the research findings to further advance technologies.
In addition, a further $2 million will also be allocated to research at DOE’s national laboratories to support consortium R&D activities.
