The US Energy Department’s Wind Program is seeking feedback from the wind industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders regarding the key challenges currently facing offshore wind energy and the Wind Program’s implementation of the Energy Department’s National Offshore Wind Strategy report released in 2011. Since the release of the National Offshore Wind Strategy report, the global offshore wind industry has doubled in size from 4 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity to over 8 GW.
Offshore wind technology is making progress as well. For example, the average nameplate capacity of installed offshore wind turbines is expected to double from 4 MW in 2011 to 8 MW by the end of 2016, allowing for improved economies of scale. Feedback through this request for information (RFI) will inform the program’s future strategies and priorities for advancing offshore wind technologies and deployments.
Responses are due by 22 June 2015. For more information, click here.