53 New Wind Projects Get Funding

The DOE will award up to $8.5 million in total to 53 wind energy projects designed to help address market and deployment challenges identified in the department’s 2008 report titled “20% Wind Energy by 2030.”

Though Energy Secretary Steven Chu characterized wind energy as one of the most promising renewable energy sources, the 2030 report cited a number of major challenges:

·         Investment in a national transmission system

·         Larger electric load balance areas and better regional planning

·         Reduction in wind turbine capital costs

·         Improvement of turbine performance

·         Siting and environmental issues

·         Workforce development. 

Get the full report here.

The wind projects selected for funding fall into four categories:

·         Market acceptance

·         Environmental impact

·         Workforce development

·         Distributed wind technology

Note: Announcement of two additional topic areas supporting 1) wind turbine research and testing and 2) transmission analysis, planning and assessments, are expected later.

Below are descriptions of several of the 53 projects funded; award amounts are subject to change.

Market Acceptance

·         Clean Energy States Alliance, Inc. (Montpelier, VT) - Wind Powering America State Outreach Project - $100,000 Consensus Building Institute, Inc. (Cambridge, MA) - Building State Capacity to Advance Wind Energy Through the Best Practices of Collaborative Planning and Siting - $99,785

·         The Mountain Institute, Inc. (Morgantown, WV) - Overcoming Barriers to Wind Development in Appalachian Coal Country - $99,776

·         Power Advocate, Inc. (Boston, MA) - Overcoming Supply Chain Challenges to Wind Power in the U.S. - $100,000

Environmental Impact

·         Deepwater Wind Holdings, LLC (Hauppauge, NY) - Block Island Offshore Wind Project Bird and Bat Monitoring Program - $295,360

·         Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS) - Environmental Impacts of Wind Power Development on Population Biology of Greater Prairie Chickens - $299,998

Workforce Development

·         DNV Global Energy Concepts Inc. (Seattle, WA) - Knowledge Boosting Program for New Wind Industry Professionals - $269,691

·         Oklahoma Department of Commerce (Oklahoma City, OK) - Development of a National Safety Standard for Wind Turbine Maintenance Technicians - $400,000

Distributed Wind Technology

• Cascade Engineering, Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI) - Cascade Engineering, Inc. Application - Swift Wind Turbine - $100,000
• Viryd Technologies (San Diego, CA) - Testing the Viryd 8000 to Verify a Lower Cost of Energy - $65,000

See all 53 awards here.