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WINDExchange Newsletter
Issue #230 | Sept. 5, 2024
The WINDExchange Newsletter is a quarterly publication highlighting recent wind energy news, events, publications, and other related activities from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) and national laboratories. Contact us: WIND.Exchange@nrel.gov.
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New Equity Resources
Community Input Helps Define Wind Energy Equity
Energy equity has received increased attention in recent years, but what about wind energy equity? In 2024, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory completed a study, funded by WETO, that aimed to better define what wind energy equity means for experts and communities alike. The team just published a report on the findings from the project’s final stage, during which they met with residents from three U.S. communities in Illinois, North Carolina, and New Mexico, including Tribal members. The report offers detailed summaries of each outreach effort as well as guidance for how future wind energy projects could more equitably distribute wind energy’s social, economic, and health impacts across the communities that host them.
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New Wind Energy Equity Webpage
xchahas recently expanded the web content it offers to include information on wind energy equity, including what it is, why it’s important, what the U.S. government is doing to improve equity, and how researchers are advancing equity, such as the above community input study. Equity is one of many factors that impact communities in the development of wind energy around the nation.
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Map Shows Wind Energy Equity Across the United States
A new interactive map has been added to the WINDExchange website, showing sociodemographic data on disadvantaged communities as well as the locations and capacity of land-based wind turbines across the United States. This map offers several layers you can turn on or off to help developers, decision makers, and local stakeholders better understand the role of equity in wind energy development amidst the industry’s continued growth.
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New Workforce Resources
Support for the Wind Energy Industry
Today, the wind energy sector is facing challenges in recruiting and training workers across various fields needed for its operations. And yet, the jobs are coming—and coming fast. So how does the industry fill them? Together. The Wind Energy Workforce Network Initiative invites members to work together on these gaps and opportunities for the land-based and offshore wind energy industries. And WINDExchange recently published a series of three new resources, developed with compiled input from industry members, to help the wind energy industry, researchers, and prospective workers support a rapidly growing workforce, including the:
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News & Updates
Missed our Webinar? Watch a Recording To Learn What Happens at a Wind Farm’s End of Life
In a WINDExchange webinar on May 30, 2024, attendees heard about key concepts in end-of-service processes for wind energy technologies and infrastructure, including decommissioning, repowering, and recycling. Review the WINDExchange End-of-Service Guide to learn more about these processes of growing importance to project owners and operators, state and local decision-makers, and neighboring communities.
Highlights
Catch up on other relevant news from WETO and national labs, including:
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Upcoming Events
Sept. 10, 2024, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. MT, Online
Register to watch live or receive a recording that explores the history and impact of major incentives, unpacks some of the complex provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and highlights the ways federal incentives and policies will continue to shape the wind energy industry.
Sept. 23–26, 2024, Online
Register to join a virtual networking event, organized and sponsored by National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy in collaboration with REpowering Schools. designed to help career seekers envision an exciting career in wind energy and take the first steps towards making that vision a reality.
Sept. 24, 2024, 8 a.m. ET–Sept. 25, 2024, 5 p.m. ET, Portland, Maine
Attend an event that brings together leading experts, including members of DOE and its national labs, to address drivers and challenges to chart a course for floating offshore wind energy in the United States.
Oct. 17, 2024, 10–11 a.m. ET, Online
Hear from researchers from France and the United States presenting their research on the feasibility of using environmental DNA, or eDNA, to detect marine wildlife. Register to attend or watch the recording.
Oct. 28–Nov. 2, 2024, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Experience the premier technical event on wind energy in North America, sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, featuring technical sessions, software workshops, and a graduate student symposium.
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