Clean Energy Champions
This edition’s Clean Energy Champion is Bharat Vyakaranam, an engineer working for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Bharat contributes to the Atlantic Offshore Wind Integration Study which focuses on the reliability and resilience of wind in the power system. When asked what his magical wind industry power is, his answer is “Integration and reliability,” two invaluable abilities in overcoming challenges of expanding offshore wind’s grid presence. For those seeking to enter the wind energy field, Bharat emphasizes a call to action based on research.
“There is a lot more research to be done for wind energy, especially with offshore wind integration,” he advises. To reach 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, the wind industry needs all the research it can get!
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Research & Development Feature
 Identifying the major scientific barriers—or “grand challenges”—in offshore wind energy technology is the first step towards accelerating large-scale coastal wind farm development. Recently, a group of multi-institutional wind energy experts did just that.
In a collaborative study published in Wind Energy Science, a team led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory named the three major offshore wind energy challenges and laid out future approaches needed to meet them. In part, they recommend improvements in weather predictions and additional coastal field studies to better inform current modeling capabilities.
Read the full article for an overview of the current offshore wind energy “grand challenges” and future solutions.
News
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking input on the status and research needs related to bat deterrent technologies—devices that discourage bats from entering the airspace around wind turbine blades—which will help inform a potential Funding Opportunity Announcement aimed at advancing bat deterrent technology solutions. This RFI seeks input related to bat behavior research, field research, and deterrent hardware research. Get more information, including on how to submit a response, by reading the full article. Responses are due no later than September 16, 2022.
With support from WETO, Working Together to Resolve Environmental Effects of Wind Energy (WREN) was established to facilitate international collaboration and advance global understanding of potential environmental effects of wind energy. To further this effort, WREN is developing a free, online Wind Energy Monitoring and Mitigation Technologies Tool to serve as a reference of available technologies and tools to monitor and mitigate the potential impacts of land-based and offshore wind energy development on wildlife. Check out the official website for more information, including on how to submit technologies for inclusion in the Tool.
Events
Conference: Sept. 11–14, 2022, Portland, ME
Join leading experts to chart a course for floating offshore wind energy in the United States. The 2022 American Floating Offshore Wind Technical Summit (AFloat) will consist of two full days of sessions and a field trip to the University of Maine to tour the Advanced Structures & Composites Center, a world-class research facility with the largest university-based research team focused on floating offshore wind technologies. For more information, visit the event website.
Conference: Sept. 20–22, 2022, Newark, DE
Building on the success of the 2019 conference, the 2022 conference will reunite the North American Wind Energy Academy Symposium and the International Conference on Future Technologies in Wind Energy (WindTech) while broadening the 2019 vision to explore themes of grid integration and the social science of wind energy development. More information can be found on the event website.
Webinar: Sept. 21, 2022, 4 pm ET.
WREN is hosting a short, instructional webinar for its new online Wind Energy Monitoring and Mitigation Technologies Tool. To register, visit the official website.
Forum: Sept. 21–23, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA
DOE is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University to launch and host the 2022 Global Clean Energy Action Forum, which will directly follow the UN General Assembly. Clean energy leaders from around the world will unite to accelerate the clean energy transition while responding to global security needs. This event will feature U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, CEOs, and clean energy experts participating in a variety of events, including a high-level plenary session, technical roundtables, a clean energy technology showcase, and more. Visit the Global Clean Energy Action Forum website for more information.
Conference: Oct. 18–19, 2022, Providence, RI
The American Clean Power Association is hosting the Offshore WINDPOWER conference, which will feature panels, presentations, workshops, and poster sessions focusing on the future of offshore wind energy. Stop by the DOE booth to learn about its offshore wind research and newest initiatives. Find more information on the event website.
Workshop: Oct. 17–20, 2022, Albuquerque, NM
The workshop brings together wind industry experts, wind farm stakeholders and operators, manufacturers, and researchers to address the major topics for wind turbine blades, facilitate interaction and networking among the attendees, and identify future technology pathways. For more information, visit Sandia National Laboratories.
In Case You Missed It
- DOE released its annual wind market reports! Read up on how the utility-scale land-based wind sector added 13,000 megawatts of wind capacity, the distributed wind sector hit over 89,000 wind turbines across all 50 states, the offshore wind energy sector now has 40,083 MW of projects being developed and currently operating in the United States, and plenty more.
- We’re making monumental investments in clean energy and emissions reduction through the Inflation Reduction Act.
- DOE announced a $26 million funding opportunity to demonstrate projects showing that the electric grid could run on 100% solar, wind, and battery storage.
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