On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy's Wind Energy Technologies Office issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input on the current state of U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing, future domestic blade manufacturing innovation needs, manufacturing workforce development, and how recent tax incentives and initiatives affect stakeholder thinking and strategies.
This RFI supports the Biden-Harris Administration goals of a fully decarbonized grid by 2035 and 100% clean energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050, by identifying: challenges, critical knowledge gaps, and innovation needs within the U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing industry, pathways to further develop the domestic manufacturing workforce, and opportunities to strengthen the domestic supply chain to meet increased wind energy deployment needs.
To reach these climate goals, the scale of wind energy deployment must significantly increase. Currently, the production capacity of wind turbine blades is insufficient to meet the domestic demand and needs to be increased. Additionally, further investment in domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing will lead to a decreased reliance on imports, a stronger supply chain, and increased prospects in U.S. competitiveness in the production of labor-intensive components such as blades.
WETO requests feedback from the wind industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on issues related to U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing.
This RFI seeks information across three categories related to U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing:
- Current state of U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing and challenges, and how these challenges affect cost competitiveness and impede further investment in novel blade manufacturing technologies.
- Future state of U.S. domestic wind turbine manufacturing and how to address current capacity limitations, support a domestic manufacturing workforce, decrease reliance on imports, and support the development of an efficient domestic supply chain through further investment in innovative technologies for U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing.
- Funding mechanisms, investment, and strategic partnerships and what is needed to aid strategic thinking in driving significant growth to U.S. domestic wind turbine blade manufacturing.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Responses must be submitted electronically to [email protected] no later than 5:00 pm (ET) on July 30, 2024.
EERE will not respond to individual submissions or publish publicly a compendium of responses. A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed.
Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or topic, if applicable.
Please provide the following information at the beginning of your response:
- Company/institution name
- Company/institution contact
- Respondents' roles and areas of expertise as they relate to the RFI questions
- Contact's address, phone number, and email address
Learn more about WETO's research on wind turbine and blade manufacturing.