A dozen projects get more than US$10M in US R&D call

The awards, totalling US$10.3M, will support a range of research areas, including supply chain analyses, a study of the impact of offshore wind on the grid and innovations in mooring and anchoring.

National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium executive director Carrie Cullen Hilt said, “The consortium is excited to advance offshore wind deployment in the US by supporting these innovation and research projects. Today’s announcement builds on our collective commitment to drive down costs and make offshore wind more a competitive alternative in generating energy.”

GE Renewables general manager for engineering and product development, offshore wind, Vincent Schellings said, “The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium is a model for how you bring public and private sector interests together to advance our clean energy future.

“Through the consortium, we are able to harness funding and focus on the right initiatives to advance the offshore industry and ultimately expand the US supply chain in ways that attract new jobs and private sector investments.”

The consortium’s efforts were realized through a competitive solicitation which closed in December 2019.

The projects include a demonstration of shallow water mooring components for floating wind (ShallowFloat), Principal Power; design and certification of taut-synthetic moorings for floating wind turbines, University of Maine; a dual-function tuned inerter damper for semi-submersible offshore wind turbines, Virginia Tech University; and an innovative anchoring system for floating wind, Triton Systems.

Others include a techno-economic mooring configuration and design for floating wind, University of Massachusetts Amherst; development of advanced methods for evaluating grid stability impacts, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; development of a metocean reference site near the Massachusetts and Rhode Island wind energy areas, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; enabling condition-based maintenance, General Electric; digital twins for optimal asset management, Tufts University; radar-based wake optimization, General Electric; survival modelling for offshore wind prognostics, Tagup Inc; and 20-GW by 2035: supply chain roadmap for offshore wind in the US, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

In addition to the projects, eight others received funding from the consortium last year, bringing the total projects funded to more than US$17.3M. The full listing of the projects that have been funded by the Consortium is available here.