|
Currently, around 90% of the materials in a wind turbine can be recycled. The remaining 10% represent two important materials: fiber-reinforced composites and rare earth element magnets found in wind turbine generators. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) recently announced the Wind Turbine Technology Recycling Funding Opportunity, which will invest up to $20 million for projects to develop technology solutions that will improve the recycling of wind energy technologies.
This funding will help address technological and supply chain challenges that currently limit recycling of fiber reinforced composites and rare earth element magnets in wind turbines and improve the sustainability of wind energy technologies. For more information, please download the full funding opportunity on EERE Exchange.
|
WETO and DOE’s Office of Electricity issued the REIMAGINE BREAKERS funding opportunity to support research and development of Apply for funding by February 28, 2025.
|
WETO and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced their intent to release a request for proposals (RFP) from industry and academia to advance the tools and data needed to design the next generation of offshore wind turbines. Managed by NREL and funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, cost-shared subcontracts will be awarded for fundamental research and technology development to advance modeling and analysis for next-generation offshore wind technologies.
The proposed RFP will provide up to $6.25 million in total funding to selected U.S. research and development applicants from industry and academia to be split among two topic areas. To learn more information, read the full notice of intent.
|
Over the past year, wind energy made significant strides, showcasing resilience and innovation. Key highlights include cost-cutting initiatives for farmers, action plans to support clean power, and substantial investments in offshore wind development. Learn more in our 2024 recap. With so much progress, the year blew by!
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) also released the 2024 EERE Investment Snapshot, a summary of the scientific, technical and economic achievements facilitated by EERE funding in recent years. It highlights how in the last 10 years, innovation has helped drive down the costs of land-based wind by 41%.
|
DOE recently announced leaders from 37 entities will join one of three new Clean Energy to Communities (C2C) peer-learning cohorts. For the first time, this cycle includes a cohort about distributed wind, with a focus on building capacity in rural and agricultural communities. The cohort was designed to support the Rural and Agricultural Income & Savings from Renewable Energy (RAISE) initiative, a joint DOE and U.S. Department of Agriculture partnership to help rural small businesses, farmers, and electric cooperatives cut costs and increase income using smaller-scale renewable energy technologies.
|
|
|
|
Free Webinar: Jan. 23, 2025, at 09:00AM to 11:00AM PST, Virtual
The U.S. Offshore Wind Synthesis of Environmental Effects Research (SEER) effort, led by NREL and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with support from WETO, is continuing its free, public webinar series to share the latest research on the potential environmental effects of offshore wind energy development.
Conference: Jan. 29, 2025, at 08:00AM to January 31, 12:30PM EST, Providence, RI
With several offshore wind projects in operation and more under construction, we have reached a critical moment for operations and maintenance and health and safety. What are the industry standards for operations and maintenance? Operational wind farms also require a trained workforce that values safety – how can we ensure that safety remains a high-level priority as the industry moves forward?
Join the Oceantic Network to discuss the nexus of these industry support systems and the critical need for them to work together.
|
|
|
WETO released its quarterly WINDExchange Newsletter, highlighting community benefits, an updated wind energy ordinance database, wind energy training and education database, webinar recordings, and other related activities from WETO and national laboratories.
LEARN MORE
DOE announced its plan to fund projects under the Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP). Managed by NREL, CIP awards cost-shared subcontracts and technical assistance to manufacturers of small and mid-sized wind turbine technologies to make them more cost-competitive and reliable.
LEARN MORE
DOE announced the release of a memo, “Research Technology and Economic Security Framework” issued by the Deputy Secretary for Energy, that describes a framework designed to minimize foreign risks to DOE’s scientific enterprise. The memo outlines the approach DOE’s Office of Research, Technology & Economic Security (RTES) undertakes to protect early-stage R&D) in academic settings, applied R&D stage projects, and Demonstration and Deployment stage projects.
LEARN MORE
|
|
|
|
|
