Partnerships Amplify Velocity of Offshore Wind Innovation – AltEnergyMag

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, more than $10 million in funding for NREL offshore wind research projects came from partnerships with industry. The NREL team is working with more than 45 commercial, government, and research organizations on offshore, land-based, and distributed wind research projects in 2021.

This reflects the overall success of the laboratory in cultivating partnerships. Over the last 12 years, NREL has brought in $1 billion in partnership contracts, with more than 900 active partnership agreements and close to 600 unique partners in FY 2020.

With the nation's first commercial-scale offshore wind development recentlycleared for installation by the U.S. Department of the Interioroff the coast of Massachusetts, the NREL offshore wind team hopes to engage with new partners to grow its collaborative base and make even more meaningful contributions to this burgeoning industry in the coming years.

Industry partners know they can bank on the intellectual capital of experienced NREL researchers to develop and refine breakthrough offshore wind technologies and provide the balanced, market-savvy guidance needed for successful deployment. In addition, NREL offers industry partners hands-on research collaboration, technical assistance, deployment guidance, research facility use, and technology licensing.

"Collaboration with industry is key to making sure our R&D addresses real-world issues and priorities, while helping transfer scientific knowledge from the lab to the marketplace," said NREL Principal Engineer Jeroen van Dam. "We're giving offshore developers the tools to establish market parityand giving the United States resources to join the field of international players."

Through collaborations with the primary offshore wind regulatorsthe Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcementand in coordination with the Business Network for Offshore Wind and the American Clean Power Association trade organizations, NREL is helping lead the development of industry standards that will define the requirements for utility-scale deployment of offshore wind in the United States. The team also works with individual companiesfrom startups to established corporationsincluding system operators, developers, original equipment manufacturers, energy suppliers, and investors. Scores of U.S. companies are currently involved in building, running, or supporting supply chains related to offshore systems.

The laboratory provides a credible source for objective expertise and validated data, bolstering rather than competing with industry efforts. NREL research focuses on early-stage technologies, where industry investments tend to be lean, while also targeting R&D priorities with potential for future commercialization. This has included collaboration on tools needed for industry to eventually develop larger, more powerful turbines and optimize system performance, efficiency, reliability, and affordability.

NREL takes broader economic factors into consideration when assessing the potential impact of offshore wind research and development. Offshore wind could trigger more than $12 billion per year in U.S. capital investment in offshore wind projects and spur significant activity and growth for ports, factories, and construction.

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Partnerships Amplify Velocity of Offshore Wind Innovation - AltEnergyMag