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he United States already has the recycling capacity to cost-effectively and sustainably recycle over 90% of projected wind turbine waste by 2050, Learn more.
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released the West Coast Offshore Wind Transmission Study and Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. West Coast Region. Funded by DOE’s Grid Deployment Office (GDO) and co-managed by the Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) spent the past two years studying the costs and benefits of adding floating offshore wind turbines along the United States’ Pacific coast. A new report shows that floating offshore wind could bring 33 GW of energy to the western United States by 2050 and bolster the resilience of coastal communities. The additional transmission that would be built to transport the offshore wind could also help transport lower-cost energy from onshore like solar, land-based wind, and hydropower, ultimately leading to billions of dollars in savings across the Western Interconnection.
In addition, the action plan developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management addresses coastal and offshore wind transmission challenges on the U.S. West Coast and provides recommendations on how to connect the first generation of West Coast offshore wind projects to the Western electric grid and support transmission over the next several decades.
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Full recyclability of U.S. wind energy systems is expected to become feasible in coming years. A new report funded by DOE and co-authored by NREL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories provides strategies to optimize and enhance existing recycling processes. These recycling pathways can help alleviate potential supply chain constraints related to wind energy and help reduce emissions and pollutants to air, land, and water throughout the life cycle of wind technology.
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DOE also selected ten projects to receive $2.1million through the i2X Innovative Queue Management Solutions for Clean Energy Interconnection and Energization program, funding distribution utilities to pilot innovative solutions for managing renewable energy and electric vehicle charging interconnection and energization queues. The interconnection community can discuss these efforts to address interconnection challenges on i2X Connect, the recently launched online platform that provides a space for interconnection stakeholders to exchange ideas regarding addressing the challenges of interconnection of renewable energy sources to the electric grid.
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Full applications are due on February 26, 2025.
WETO recently funded the creation of a new comprehensive guide for offshore wind energy on DOE’s WINDExchange website. Offshore wind energy could be a huge help in contributing reliable and resilient energy to the U.S. electrical grid, but that doesn’t mean community members, local government officials, policy makers, developers, and many others don’t have questions about these technologies. Download a pdf ry out the interactive guide to learn about project anatomysiting
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Across two phases, the winners of the DOE’s Wind Turbine Materials Recycling Prize received a total of $575,000 each in cash prizes and $100,000 in technical vouchers for creating novel and cost-effective wind turbine recycling technologies. Now, these teams are using their winnings from the prize to progress their work and advance domestic capabilities for wind turbine recycling. Read the
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In December, DOE welcomed Dr. Sydney Lienemann as its new DAS for Renewable Energy. Dr. Lienemann holds a Ph.D. in chemical physics from the University of Colorado Boulder and has over a decade of experience at the intersection of climate, renewable energy, and environmental policy. Some of her career highlights include leading Arctic energy diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State and serving as the deputy cabinet secretary at the New Mexico Environment Department.
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Free Webinar: Jan. 17, 2025, at 01:00PM to 02:00PM EST, Virtual
NREL has issued a request for proposals (RFP) under the Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) to support the development of small- and medium-sized wind turbine technology. NREL will host an informational webinar covering information on the 2025 Competitiveness Improvement Project RFP including a Q&A session.
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 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.
Jan. 29, 2025, at 08:00AM to Jan. 31, 2025, 12:30PM EST, Providence, RI
Join the Oceantic Network to discuss the support system for the offshore wind industry, operations and maintenance safety with several offshore wind projects in operation and more under construction. These support systems are critical for the successful operation of U.S. projects.
Free Webinar: Jan. 30, 2025, at 2:00PM to 3:30PM EST, Virtual
Join us as we kick off Season 3 of the i2X Solution e-Xchange webinar series with the release of the DOE Distributed Energy Resource Interconnection Roadmap. This Roadmap identifies solutions to address current challenges in the interconnection of clean energy resources to the distribution and sub-transmission grids.
Over the course of five meetings, the i2X team will delve into the goal areas and solution sets identified in the roadmap. This kick-off meeting will provide an overview of the roadmap and lay the foundation for our future, deep-dive conversations.
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NREL, on behalf of DOE, has launched The Capacity Accelerator for Tribal Offshore Wind Engagement, designed to allow applicants to address their needs and priorities through three phases focused on building internal capacity for Tribes and Tribal collaboratives. Applications for Phase 1 must be submitted by March 25, 2025.
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DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office announced Phase 2 of the Electronics Scrap Recycling Advancement Prize (E-SCRAP). The Prize fosters innovation to optimize recycling technologies, enhance material recovery, and promote circular supply chains. Phase 2 focuses on prototyping solutions to keep raw materials out the waste stream.
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issued a request for proposals (RFP) under the Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) to support the development of small- and medium-sized wind turbine technology. The RFP includes significant program changes aimed at streamlining the process of innovative design development, optimization, testing, and certification.
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Most Impactful Wind Energy Accomplishments for 2024, which outlines the most notable achievements in wind energy research and highlights PNNL’s rol.
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DOE’s RAISE initiative has released a summary report from the Rural Electric Cooperative Distributed Energy Resource Business Model Development Workshop series. Participants at these interactive workshops engage in collaborative discussions to explore emerging opportunities for innovative rural electric cooperative-led and -enabled distributed energy resource business models.
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GDO recently announced selections for the “Standardization for Interregional Offshore Wind Transmission” funding opportunity. $1.25 million was awarded to Johns Hopkins University and DNV Power Systems Advisory to develop and lead their ‘Planning Offshore Interregional Network Standardization (“POINTS”) Consortium over the next 12 months.
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NREL has released a Final Technical Report: Manufacturing and Additive Design of Electric Machines by 3D Printing (MADE3D). MADE3D is a multiyear project sponsored by DOE aimed at overcoming challenges for on-site manufacturing of high-power-density electric machine designs using 3D printing.
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DOE announced solicitations for a 2nd round of the HBCU Clean Energy Education Prize. With a total prize pool of $600,000, this prize supports the development of STEM-focused summer and after school programs that inspire underrepresented K-12 and community college students to explore energy careers. Applications are open now through Feb. 27, 2025.
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