The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) currently owns two AXYS WindSentinel buoys that collect a comprehensive set of meteorological and oceanographic data to support resource characterization for wind energy offshore. These buoys have been deployed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in different regions of the U.S. to collect hub-height offshore wind data in support of the U.S. offshore wind industry.
The data produced by the buoys represent the first publicly available multi-seasonal hub-height data to be collected in U.S. coastal waters. The buoys consequently provide an important new opportunity to characterize the wind resource using observations in regions targeted for wind development.
PNNL, on behalf of DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, has launched a program to facilitate the loan of buoys to qualified parties for the purpose of continuing to acquire this valued wind resource characterization data to support offshore wind energy development.
The program has been initiated by the posting of the 2016 Request for Applications on FedBizOps.gov with additional required documentation provided on the PNNL website. The web site also includes the Department of Energy WindSentinel Loan Program Description document which provides additional detail on how the loan process will be implemented. Applications to this program will be accepted until January 27, 2017.
