DOE Announces $27 Million to Power Wind Energy Innovation 

WETO recently selected 15 projects, totaling $27 million in funding, to lower costs and address barriers to the deployment of offshore, land-based, and distributed wind energy. Funded through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these projects will work to improve offshore wind transmission technologies, reduce barriers for distributed wind deployment by communities, better understand the impacts of offshore wind development on affected communities, and reduce impacts to wildlife. 

Bring Wind Energy Back to School with You 

The U.S. wind energy workforce will need to grow by an average of 15,000–58,000 full-time jobs every year from 2024 to 2030 to meet the nation’s ambitious clean energy goals. Luckily, DOE supports several programs and initiatives that help students at all stages of their educational journeys learn about wind energy. From internships to competitions, these opportunities foster the next generation of wind energy technicians, engineers, and developers. 

What Will It Take to Unlock U.S. Floating Offshore Wind Energy? 

A recent report, coauthored by experts from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Moffat & Nichol and funded by WETO, outlines the port and supply chain needed to support 25–55 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy along the West Coast of the United States. The report suggests a need for $5 billion–$10 billion for installation ports and additional $11 billion–$19 billion for manufacturing ports. These investments could create a network of ports in California, Oregon, and Washington that could yield local jobs, strengthen the domestic supply chain, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and generate thousands of megawatts of clean energy. 

New Database Helps Quantify Materials Needed to Support Growth in Wind Energy 

What materials are needed to deploy wind energy projects—and do we have enough in the United States? DOE introduced the Renewable Energy Materials Properties Database, an open-source resource detailing materials, their sources, uses, and availability for wind and solar energy projects. This database, created by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on behalf of WETO and DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office, aids renewable energy stakeholders in assessing materials required for their projects concerning global supply limitations.

Department of the Interior Approves Fourth Major Offshore Wind Energy Project 

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the approval of the Revolution Wind project, which will add 704 megawatts of offshore wind energy capacity off the coast of Point Judith, Rhode Island. This is the department’s fourth approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind energy project, joining Massachusetts’s Vineyard Wind project, New Jersey’s Ocean Wind 1 project, and the South Fork Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and New York. During construction, Revolution Wind will create approximately 1,200 local jobs. Once complete, the project’s fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines will be capable of powering nearly 250,000 American homes.   

This fourth approved project is one of many in the U.S. offshore wind project pipeline. Visit our Offshore Wind Energy page to learn about the benefits, challenges, and potential of offshore wind energy.  

Thirty-Two Teams Prepare for the 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition 

DOE unveiled the 32 college and university teams chosen to participate in the 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition in the first half of the 2023–2024 school year. In early 2024, a performance-based selection process will reduce the competition to 12 or fewer final teams. These top teams will continue their projects in the second half of the academic year and showcase them at the 2024 final event, where they can win a share of a $30,000 prize pool. 

Justice Week 2023 

Hybrid Events: Oct. 30–Nov. 3, 2023, Washington, D.C.  

Join DOE for Justice Week 2023: Equity Empowered, a five-day hybrid event dedicated to advancing equity and environmental justice in the clean energy transition. The week’s daily events will include a panel discussion about implementing community benefits plans as well as presentations on the White House’s Justice40 Initiative, DOE’s community engagement efforts, and strategies for getting the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and math students at minority-serving institutions involved in DOE’s programs.  

NAWEA/WindTech 2023 Conference 

Conference: Oct. 30–Nov. 1, 2023, Denver, Colorado  

The three-day NAWEA/WindTech 2023 Conference will bring together students, faculty members, researchers, and industry, government, and nonprofit representatives from around the world to envision a future in which high levels of wind energy deployment meet the needs of a grid supported predominantly by renewable energy. The conference will feature the latest research on integrating wind energy with solar power, energy storage, and other energy sources into the complex and interdependent energy system of the future. In the two days following the conference, the public is invited to join meetings, workshops, and the Graduate Student Symposium.