DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative New Notice of Intent: Larger Wind Turbine Blades

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative

Good afternoon CEMI Stakeholders, We're happy to share a recent note from the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office below.  The Wind Program is one of our partner offices, and a strong ally in our efforts to strengthen U.S. clean energy manufacturing competitiveness.  We hope you enjoy this notice, and we welcome you to look out for more clean energy stories in the coming weeks. Regards, CEMI Upcoming Funding Opportunity to Develop Larger Wind Turbine Blades On February 20, 2015 EERE’s Wind Program announced a Notice of Intent to issue a funding opportunity titled “U.S. Wind Manufacturing: Larger Blades to Access Greater Wind Resources and Lower Costs.” This funding will support the research and development of technological innovations to improve the manufacturing, transportation, and assembly of wind turbine blades longer than 60 meters (m). Longer blades that can be installed at wind turbines with hub heights of at least 120m will help facilitate deployment of the next generation of multi-megawatt wind turbines. In December 2014 the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory released maps that illustrate the potential for wind energy development using new and next generation wind turbine technologies. These taller turbines accompanied by longer blades have the potential to unlock additional wind power resource potential across 1,137,565 square miles of the United States. This proposed funding opportunity would help mitigate thetransportation constraints associated with larger turbine blades, helping spur wind energy development in areas of the country where wind resources are found at higher elevations. Read the full Notice of Intent on EERE’s Funding Opportunity Exchange.