Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced $18.5 million in new Department of Energy (DOE) funding for an offshore wind research and development (R&D) consortium that will conduct U.S.-specific research aimed at reducing the cost of offshore wind in the U.S. This consortium will be a cooperative private-public innovation hub addressing topics, including wind plant technology advancement, resource and physical site characterization, installation, operations and maintenance, and supply chain technology solutions.

“As the former Governor of one of the largest wind producing states, I want to underscore the importance of wind power in our energy portfolio,” said Secretary Perry. “This work will further DOE’s goal to accelerate the development of offshore wind technologies by supporting fundamental research to reduce the costs of offshore wind energy to successfully compete in regional energy markets.”

The U.S. is capitalizing on momentum in the nascent offshore wind market, with the nation’s first commercial offshore wind project, the Block Island Wind Farm, and additional projects proposed along America’s coastlines. However, the United States has several specific challenges that require industry-wide collaboration to reduce costs. A new EERE Blog series discusses these challenges, such as deep water requiring floating foundations, the need for models predicting how Atlantic hurricanes will impact offshore turbines, and supply chain and operations and maintenance solutions to address the challenges of building and maintaining turbines at sea.

Under this competitive funding opportunity announcement, DOE intends to select an administrator to coordinate the collaborative R&D activities conducted by the consortium. The consortium will include members of the offshore wind industry, who will contribute funds to the consortium and use the research findings to further advance technologies. Additionally, $2 million will be allocated to research at DOE’s national laboratories to support consortium R&D activities.

To learn more about DOE’s work with industry, academia, and national laboratory partners on wind energy technologies, please visit energy.gov/eere/wind.