“Our oceans can deliver vast amounts of clean power to support a resilient energy system for the American people,” said Jeff Marootian, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “By increasing the reliability of offshore wind and marine energy technologies and ensuring environmentally responsible development, these selected projects can accelerate the deployment of offshore renewable energy.”
“This multi-agency collaboration highlights the strength of the US DOI, DOE, and Department of Commerce’s partnership in responsibly managing public trust resources,” said Kevin Sligh, Director of DOI’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). “The selected projects support BSEE’s objectives of ensuring rigorous safety and environmental requirements for facility design and installation and maintaining an effective offshore renewable energy program on the US Outer Continental Shelf.”
The topics and projects selected in this funding program are:
Topic Area 1: Reliable Moorings for Floating Offshore Wind and Marine Energy Systems
About two-thirds of US offshore wind energy potential exists over waters too deep for today’s fixed-bottom wind turbine foundations secured directly to the sea floor and instead require floating platforms. These platforms, as well as marine energy systems, can operate in deep waters and rough seas, and they require specialized and reliable technologies to secure them to the sea floor. Projects in this topic area will address specific near-term needs informing mooring system designs for floating offshore wind and marine energy.
- Deep Anchor Solutions Inc. (College Station, Texas): $932,200
- GE Vernova Advanced Research Center (Niskayuna, New York): $997,800
- Michelin North America, Inc (Coraopolis, Pennsylvania): $837,800
- Stress Engineering Services, Inc. (Houston, Texas): $984,400
- Triton Anchor LLC (Chelmsford, Massachusetts): $999,300
- University of Maine (Orono, Maine): $1,000,000
- WireCo Worldgroup Inc. (Prairie Village, Kansas): $738,900
Topic Area 2: Noise Reduction for Fixed-Bottom Offshore Wind Installation
Projects in this topic area will address needs for additional technologies and strategies to reduce the noise associated with the installation of fixed-bottom turbine foundations, which has the potential to promote ocean co-use with marine wildlife.
- Integral Consulting Inc. (Santa Cruz, California): $1,196,000
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Arvada, Colorado): $800,000
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Richland, Washington): $500,000
- Purdue University (West Lafayette, Indiana): $3,817,700
- Triton Anchor LLC (Chelmsford, Massachusetts): $1,303,800
- Tufts University (Medford, Massachusetts): $488,200
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan): $2,402,000
