DOE announces $18.5 million in offshore wind R&D funding

Offshore wind floating substructure designs: spar buoy (left), semisubmersible (middle), and tension-leg platform (right)

DECEMBER 13, 2017 — U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has announced $18.5 million in new Department of Energy (DOE) funding for an offshore wind research and development (R&D) consortium that will conduct U.S.-specific research aimed at reducing the cost of offshore wind in the U.S.

The consortium will be a cooperative private-public innovation hub addressing topics, including wind plant technology advancement, resource and physical site characterization, installation, operations and maintenance, and supply chain technology solutions.

“As the former Governor of one of the largest wind producing states [Texas], I know the value of wind power in our energy portfolio,” said Secretary Perry. “This work will further DOE’s goal to accelerate the development of offshore wind technologies by supporting fundamental research to reduce the costs of offshore wind energy to successfully compete in regional energy markets.”

The DOE says that, while the U.S. is capitalizing on momentum in the nascent offshore wind market, the United States has several specific challenges that require industry-wide collaboration to reduce costs. These include: deep water requiring floating foundations, the need for models predicting how Atlantic hurricanes will impact offshore turbines, and supply chain and operations and maintenance solutions to address the challenges of building and maintaining turbines at sea.

Under this competitive funding opportunity announcement, DOE intends to select an administrator to coordinate the collaborative R&D activities conducted by the consortium.

The consortium will include members of the offshore wind industry, who will contribute funds to the consortium and use the research findings to further advance technologies.

In addition to this $18.5 million funding opportunity announcement, $2 million will also be allocated to research at DOE’s national laboratories to support consortium R&D activities.

Access the DOE competitive funding opportunity announcement HERE

Offshore wind floating substructure designs: spar buoy (left), semisubmersible (middle), and tension-leg platform (right).
Josh Bauer, NREL