Surf’s up for progress in offshore wind! 🌊 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is investing $4.75 million to establish a national center of excellence to accelerate reliable and equitable offshore wind energy deployment across the nation. The Academic Center for Reliability and Resilience of Offshore Wind (ARROW), led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst along with ~40 partners, will focus on workforce development, targeted research, and partnerships and strategies to embed equity in offshore wind development.
This academic and training hub will help drive progress toward the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
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WETO and Innovation Fund Denmark plan to release a $4.2 million opportunity to advance floating offshore wind energy systems. This proposed funding opportunity aims to support national and global offshore wind deployment goals by focusing on research to improve the mooring technologies and methods used to secure floating platforms to the sea floor. Performing teams must include both U.S. and Danish entities collaborating on each awarded project and should include significant effort from both U.S. and Danish partners.
📌This opportunity is expected to be released this spring. Learn about the topic areas.
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Idaho National Laboratory recently published a report that provides an overview of potential cybersecurity threats that may affect wind farms. Several real-world incidents that have impacted wind energy organizations are presented, detailing both the methods used to infiltrate each wind energy system and the resulting effects in these notable cases. This report aims to raise awareness of proven areas of high risk, as well as highlight mitigation tactics that can help prevent similar attacks.
A recent survey from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) solicited information on the current state of siting across the country from industry professionals working in community engagement and permitting of land-based, utility-scale wind and solar energy facilities. This survey builds on earlier work from LBNL that assessed the community perceptions about wind energy deployment.
Check out recent guidance from the Internal Revenue Service on the advanced manufacturing production credit, which includes new Section 45X. This section provides manufacturers the opportunity to claim incentives for domestically manufacturing multiple wind energy technology components, such as blades, nacelles, towers, fixed bottom and floating offshore wind energy platforms, distributed wind inverters, and specialized offshore wind vessels.
The IRS also released a new form for elective payment or transfer of credits that qualified groups can apply to certain clean energy and manufacturing credits, such as the advanced manufacturing production credit, under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Those who submitted concept papers for the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) funding opportunity should submit full applications by March 12, 2024, 11:59 p.m. ET. WETO is soliciting applications for the development of offshore wind environmental monitoring technology and energy storage for wind.
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Bigger doesn’t have to mean louder. Just ask the researchers behind a new Berkley Lab analysis that simulated the development of 22 unique wind projects and then compared each project’s estimated annual energy output, total installed power capacity, numbers of turbines, and residential sound-level patterns.
Researchers found that despite an expected future reduction in the number of turbines per power plant, the total installed capacity and estimated annual energy output of wind plants will increase due to larger, more powerful wind turbines. Fewer turbines, along with cutting-edge designs, will also mean quieter environments for communities.
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Webinar: Feb. 13, 2024, Virtual
In this 1-hour webinar, hear from thought leaders from industry, policy makers, and manufacturers on how to infuse value into offshore wind power projects and overcome supply chain bottlenecks. Speakers will include WETO's own senior offshore wind advisor, Genevra Harker-Kilmes.
Conference: Feb. 26—29, 2024, Arlington, VA
Learn about new technology, services, and business opportunities from distributed wind industry experts and federal leaders, including WETO director Eric Lantz.
Webinar: Feb. 28, 2024, Virtual
Join WETO’s WINDExchange and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for a webinar introducing Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs). This webinar will discuss the nuances of CBAs and provide insights relevant to land-based wind energy, offshore wind energy, and other renewable energy technologies.
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