National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium Announces New Projects Selected for Funding

The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC) has selected five new projects to receive a total of $3.5 million to facilitate offshore wind’s coexistence with wildlife and other ocean users, and to improve electrical transmission.

Once contracted, the five new projects, listed below, will bring the NOWRDC’s total funding portfolio to $40 million for 52 projects.

“NOWRDC is excited to award projects that directly respond to challenges in the offshore wind industry,” said Kevin Knobloch, Acting Executive Director of NOWRDC. “As we approach the deployment of commercial-scale offshore wind in the U.S., these projects have the potential to provide real solutions to near-term industry challenges–ranging from stakeholder coordination to transmission resiliency. The projects thus offer the opportunity to improve the state of the art in offshore wind development.”

“Saildrone is very excited to be working with NOWRDC to help accelerate offshore wind energy development in a safe, cost-effective, and sustainable way.” said Richard Jenkins, Founder and CEO of Saildrone. “We have worked hard over recent years to support the rapid growth of the offshore wind industry. Using our low-carbon vehicles to protect marine mammals, while also technically supporting offshore wind development, is going to be a key accelerator for the industry."

This award announcement marks the full distribution of NOWRDC’s initial U.S. Department of Energy and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority project award funding. Through three competitive solicitations, NOWRDC has now awarded 52 projects focused on a range of offshore wind technical challenge areas. The full list of NOWRDC’s portfolio of projects is listed on its website: www.nationaloffshorewind.org