U.S. WIND MANUFACTURING: LARGER BLADES TO ACCESS GREATER WIND RESOURCES AND LOWER COSTS

archived

The purpose of this action is to notify potential applicants that a modification to this FOA has been issued. Please use the link below to access Modification 0001 in EERE eXCHANGE. Please review important information below about the EERE Exchange website as it relates to this FOA. This FOA supports Research and Development (R&D) partnerships leading to innovative designs and processes for the manufacturing and assembly of wind turbine blades in order to facilitate deployment of the next generation of multi-megawatt wind turbines. Supported projects will develop cost-competitive integrated solutions that address the challenges of fabricating, transporting overland, and assembling rotor blades longer than 60m, with design concepts scalable to greater lengths, and installing them at wind turbine hub heights of at least 120m. This FOA is intended to be forward-looking in addressing U.S. market dynamics and domestic manufacturing opportunities through innovative solutions to constructing and assembling larger blades directly applicable to mitigating U.S. transportation constraints. Awards under the FOA will support partnerships between DOE and research and development (R&D) teams, including manufacturers. The objectives of this FOA are to: 1. Reduce the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of land-based wind power in appropriate wind regimes by enabling the use of taller towers over their entire lifecycle, allowing wind turbines to capture stronger wind resources aloft. 2. Increase the wind turbine deployment opportunities in lower wind speed regions across the country where wind energy has previously been more expensive to deploy. 3. Increase U.S. competitiveness in alignment with the EERE Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI). Single Topic Area: This FOA is focused solely on R&D projects intended to raise the technology readiness level of large wind turbine blade manufacturing and installation concepts. New innovations in blade design as well as improvements in manufacturing and assembly processes are expected outcomes of this FOA. Solutions may include, but are not limited to, modular, segmented or site-fabricated blade technologies. Resulting designs and associated manufacturing, logistics and installation requirements may be applicable to both land-based and offshore wind plants. The full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is posted on the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. Applications must be submitted through the EERE Exchange website to be considered for award. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE Exchange website. A User Guide for the EERE Exchange website can be found on the website https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx. Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of applications is found in the full FOA posted on the EERE Exchange website.

High