$5.2 Million for Wind Forecasting, Turbine Development
DOE announced on September 13 that it will award over $5.2 million over two years to five projects that will support U.S. wind development.
Two of the projects, focused on short-term wind forecasting, will receive $3.4 million over two years. AWS Truepower, LLC will lead a project in Texas, and WindLogics, Inc. will lead a project targeting portions of several upper-Midwestern states.
Three projects will receive $1.8 million to develop midsize wind turbines: Clean Green Energy, LLC is developing a 200 kW vertical-axis wind turbine; Northern Power Systems is developing a 450 kW wind turbine; and Texas Tech University is developing a 500 kW model that can be tilted upward without using cranes.
Vertical-axis wind turbines resemble upright eggbeaters and have maintenance advantages because the generator is located near the ground. See the DOE press release and the Web site for DOE's Wind and Water Power Program.
$37 Million for Marine, Hydrokinetic Energy
In the largest single U.S. funding commitment to date for this technology, DOE announced on September 9 its selections for over $37 million to accelerate the technological and commercial readiness of emerging marine and hydrokinetic technologies.
These technologies generate renewable electricity from free-flowing rivers and streams, ocean tides and waves, and temperature differences in the ocean.
The 27 projects in 17 states range from concept studies and component design research to prototype development and in-water device testing. DOE will leverage private-sector investments by providing cost-shared funding to industry and industry-led partnerships.
Projects include in-water tests in Alaskan rivers and off the shores of Maine, Oregon, and Washington. For example, Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. will deploy a full-scale 150 kW wave energy conversion system in the Oregon Territorial Sea and will collect two years of detailed operating data. The Public Utility District No.1 of Snohomish County, Washington, will deploy, operate, monitor, and evaluate two 10-meter diameter tidal turbines in Puget Sound. The project is expected to generate 1 MW of electrical energy during periods of peak tidal currents, with an average energy output of about 100 kW. Ocean Renewable Power Company will test five tidal turbines in Cobscook Bay, off the coast of Eastport, Maine. See the DOE press release, the full list of projects, and DOE's Wind and Water Power Program Web site.
$16.5 million for Biomass R&D
DOE will award $16.5 million for two major R&D cost-share initiatives that will support expansion of renewable fuels production.
Under the first initiative, DOE will invest $12 million over three years in four projects that employ pyrolysis - heating of biomass in the absence of oxygen to create a bio-based oily liquid called bio-oil. The projects will explore a variety of catalytic processes to upgrade this bio-oil into so-called "drop-in" biofuels-advanced biofuels that are compatible with our existing fueling infrastructure.
