Letter from the Wind Energy Technologies Office Director from the Spring 2020 newsletter.
Wind Energy Technologies Office
June 1, 2020
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The U.S. wind energy industry continues its impressive run of growth over the last two decades. In late 2019, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that wind energy had become the number-one renewable electricity generation source in the country. This achievement, of course, may be attributed to the collective effort of many important players, including state and local officials, industry and investors, policy and regulatory officials, and other stakeholders.
This letter is part of the
But for those who know the historic course of wind technology’s advancement, including the dramatic improvements in scale, cost, and performance, one must also share credit with the technical leadership and sustained research and development (R&D) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its National Laboratories and research partners, and its Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO) within DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
This newsletter issue features some of WETO’s recent R&D activities, which highlight partnerships with the National Laboratories and industry. WETO accomplished its goals for 2019, is on track to do the same for 2020, and plans to continue to be a driving force for innovation well into the future. Please take a moment to read about some of these ongoing R&D efforts:
- Research that demonstrates the commercial viability of cost-competitive carbon fiber composites tailored for use in wind turbine blades.
- An assessment of the degree to which wind and solar have influenced wholesale electricity prices.
- Crawler robots that are being deployed to detect subsurface damage on wind turbine blades before it becomes visible.
- A 15-megawatt (MW) reference wind turbine that expands capabilities to assess offshore designs.
- International efforts to apply utility-scale wind turbine innovations to smaller-scale distributed wind turbines.
- Ultrasonic acoustic deterrents to protect bats from wind power plant operations and boost conservation efforts.
- Workforce development efforts, like DOE’s Collegiate Wind Competition, which are working to reduce the wind energy workforce gap.
These highlights are part of a comprehensive DOE research and development portfolio that includes 14 competitively selected research projects for offshore, land-based, and distributed wind, which recently got underway, as well as $20 million in new funding for offshore wind resource characterization and technology demonstration announced this spring.
On behalf of everyone at WETO, it’s our pleasure to be working with many of you toward the continuing advancement of wind energy through research and innovation.
Sincerely,
Robert C. Marlay, Ph.D., P.E.
Director, Wind Energy Technologies Office
Spring 2020 R&D Newsletter
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Multimegawatt reference turbine expands capabilities to assess technology for ever-larger and lower-cost designs. -
Sandia National Laboratories’ ARROW(e) system brings automated, high-tech wind blade inspections to the field. -
Flight-path monitoring aims to determine the effectiveness of ultrasonic acoustic deterrents. -
Study blows a hole in the theory that wind turbine manufacturers have avoided carbon fiber materials because of their high cost. -
As wind generation increases, cybersecurity efforts will add resilience to critical infrastructure. -
International team examines solutions to make wind systems competitive in the distributed energy market. -
In some markets, wind power is having significant impacts on the timing and location of electricity prices. -
$1.3-million upgrade extends lidar reach and data recovery rate; provides more accessible information.
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