The Energy Department today released a first-of-its-kind assessment of the potential future growth of distributed wind energy in the United States through 2050. Distributed wind differs from utility-scale wind in that it is installed at or near the point of end-use to meet on-site demand, such as at a farm, industrial or manufacturing facility, or rural home. The report titled Assessing the Future of Distributed Wind: Opportunities for Behind-the-Meter Projects quantifies the size of the resource as well as the economic and market potential for locally-produced, clean distributed wind energy at homes and businesses nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Wind and Water Power Technologies Office provides a simple step-by-step project on building a wind turbine in less than 20 minutes.
Wind farm production frequently falls short of expectations. Poor forecasts of low-altitude winds, suboptimal wind plant design and operation, and higher-than-expected downtimes and maintenance costs all undermine project profitability. Each of these issues results from industry reliance on insufficient computational approaches for simulating wind farm inflow and plant behavior under realistic operating conditions.
The Energy Department supported wind turbine innovation with Pika Energy—developing a process that cut the cost of making a small turbine blade from $1,000 to $50—and now features one of the company's turbines in the lobby of the department's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
On October 1, the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released a fourth round of requests for proposals under the Energy Department’s Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) for distributed wind energy. The CIP aims to help U.S. manufacturers of small and mid-size wind turbines (with rotor-swept areas less than 1,000 square meters) to improve their turbine designs and manufacturing processes to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and eventually earn certification ensuring performance and safety.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently awarded Pika Energy of Westbrook, Maine, with a third round of funding under the DOE Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP). The purpose of the CIP is to help U.S. manufacturers that produce distributed wind systems to lower the cost of energy from their turbines and increase their market competitiveness.
EERE offers webinars to the public on a range of subjects, from adopting the latest energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, to training for the clean energy workforce. Webinars are free; however, advanced registration is typically required. You can also watch archived webinars and browse previously aired videos, slides, and transcripts.
The Department of Energy recently released two reports that provide a detailed analysis of the wind energy industry, technology and performance trends and costs: the 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report produced by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the 2014 Distributed Wind Market Report produced by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
The Energy Department and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) today recognized the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State) and San Isabel Electric Association (San Isabel) of Colorado as the 2014 WINDExchange Wind Cooperatives of the Year.
DOE recently released three reports indicating that the wind technology market remained strong in 2013 and is poised for future growth that could double the capacity of renewable electricity generation from resources like wind power by 2020.
The Energy Department and the Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory today announced funding for projects led by Pika Energy, Northern Power Systems, Endurance Wind Power, and Urban Green Energy that will help drive down the cost of small and medium-sized wind energy systems.
The Energy Department and the American Public Power Association named Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority and Silicon Valley Power as the winners of the 2014 Public Power Wind Awards.
According to the second annual Market Report on Wind Technologies in Distributed Applications soon to be published by DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, U.S. wind turbines in distributed applications reached a cumulative installed capacity of 842 MW at the end of 2013, reflecting nearly 72,000 units installed. Although only 30.4 MW of new distributed wind capacity was added in 2013, a decline of 83% from 2012, exports from U.S.-based small wind turbine manufacturers increased 70%.
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is building on the success of the initial Distributed Wind Turbine Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP), which was announced in January 2013. Bergey Windpower Company of Oklahoma, an initial CIP recipient, used this funding to identify the component improvements to optimize its Excel 10 turbine for increased performance and reduced end user costs. Pika Energy used a first-round CIP award to develop an advanced blade manufacturing process.
The US Department of Energy and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) today recognized Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) of Virginia and the Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative (RECC) of Illinois as the 2013 Wind Cooperatives of the Year.
The Energy Department today announced $2 million to help efficiently harness wind energy using taller towers. These projects will help strengthen U.S. wind turbine component manufacturing, reduce the cost of clean and renewable wind energy, and expand the geographic range of cost-effective wind power in the United States. This effort supports the Energy Department's broader Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative to increase the efficiency of the U.S.
A new competition is channeling undergraduate ingenuity into small-scale wind energy solutions. The inaugural DOE Collegiate Wind Competition challenges 10 teams of undergraduate students to design and construct a lightweight, transportable wind turbine to power small electronic devices. The 2014 DOE Collegiate Wind Competition will be held May 5–7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center concurrently with the AWEA WINDPOWER® 2014 Conference & Exhibition.
A new year always presents a great opportunity to reflect on past accomplishments and look forward to new opportunities. For the Wind Program, 2013 brought many accomplishments and significant milestones.
Castine, Maine - The University of Maine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center partnered with Maine Maritime Academy and Cianbro to launch a deepwater offshore floating wind turbine near Bangor. When the turbine was turned on and electricity began flowing through an undersea cable to Central Maine Power on June 13, the VolturnUS 1:8 became the first grid-connected floating offshore wind turbine in the Americas.
In July, the U.S.