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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

A Systematic Framework for Projecting the Future Cost of Offshore Wind Energy

Offshore wind costs are expected to decline rapidly in the short and medium term future as the industry grows and gains experience in manufacturing, installing, and operating commercial scale projects. Estimating the future costs of offshore wind energy is critical for evaluating the technology's economic performance, how it can fit into a broader clean energy economy, and how R&D investment can be allocated to advance the technology. We present a newly developed approach for forecasting these costs which focuses on an empirically-derived learning rate for capital costs and prescribed cost and performance improvements for operational costs and capacity factor. We establish baseline costs for a series of reference fixed-bottom and floating projects in 2021 and project cost trajectories to 2035, presenting both an average cost trajectory as well as describing the range of potential future costs associated with site-specific cost variations and uncertainty in the estimate of the learning rate. We also conduct sensitivity analyses showing the impact of different global deployments by 2035 and variations in the prescribed operational costs and capacity factors. The results show that fixed-bottom and floating offshore wind capital costs could decrease to around $\$$2,400/kW and $\$$3,300/kW by 2035, respectively, with ranges of $\$$2,100/kW - $\$$2,750/kW for fixed-bottom projects and $\$$2,850/kW - $\$$5,500/kW for floating projects. The levelized cost of energy of fixed-bottom and floating wind projects could decrease to $\$$53.1/MWh and $\$$63.9/MWh by 2035, with ranges of $\$$48.4/MWh - $\$$59.7/MWh for fixed-bottom projects and $\$$46.5/MWh - $\$$99.9/MWh for floating projects. By presenting the uncertainty associated with the forecast we provide a transparent description of the spectrum of potential cost trajectories for offshore wind.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Offshore Wind Energy Basics: Navigating Offshore Wind Energy Decision-Making Processes [Slides]

This webinar will provide a high-level summary of decision-making processes for siting and permitting, with a focus on the points at which local stakeholders can meaningfully engage in these processes. It will differentiate itself from other offshore wind webinars by presenting information relevant to a national audience (i.e., it will not be state specific) that helps stakeholders to "connect the dots" across agencies and processes. It will provide neutral, fact-based information from NREL staff, as well as from relevant staff at the federal, state, and local levels. This webinar will provide a helpful foundation for webinar #3 in this series, which will highlight opportunities for community engagement in the offshore wind development process more broadly, including but not limited to the regulatory processes covered in this webinar.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Considerations for the Global Commercialization of Floating Offshore Wind Energy

Floating offshore wind (FOW) has the potential to unlock access to wind resources in deep water where fixed-bottom turbines are not feasible, enabling coastal regions around the world to meet growing energy demands. Although fixed-bottom offshore wind is commercially mature, FOW, which may be needed for water deeper than 60 m, must progress in multiple ways to reach full commercial viability. In this Perspective, we examine the status of the global FOW industry's commercial development across three key areas - technical innovation, industrialization and cross-cutting value. Technical innovation has enabled FOW turbines to perform as well as fixed-bottom turbines, with the promise of future cost reductions. However, the complex architecture of FOW turbines, combining floating structures with more than 8,000 electrical and mechanical parts in wind turbines, requires industrialization efforts such as standardization and supply-chain integration to enable commercial project deployment. FOW can potentially offer unique benefits, including reduced environmental impacts and strengthened economic development in coastal regions, through substantial regional economic activity. Successful coordination across these three areas could help to position FOW as a major contributor to a competitive, reliable and resilient global energy system.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modeling Annual Electricity Production and Levelized Cost of Energy from the US East Coast Offshore Wind Energy Lease Areas

Offshore wind energy development along the East Coast of the US is proceeding quickly as a result of large areas with an excellent wind resource, low water depths and proximity to large electricity markets. Careful planning of wind turbine deployments in these offshore wind energy lease areas (LA) is required to maximize power output and to minimize wake losses between neighboring wind farms as well as those internal to each wind farm. Here, we used microscale wind modeling with two wake parameterizations to evaluate the potential annual energy production (AEP) and wake losses in the different LA areas, and we developed and applied a levelized cost of energy (LCoE) model to quantify the impact of different wind turbine layouts on LCoE. The modeling illustrated that if the current suite of LA is subject to deployment of 15 MW wind turbines at a spacing of 1.85 km, they will generate 4 to 4.6% of total national electricity demand. The LCoE ranged from $68 to $102/MWh depending on the precise layout selected, which is cost competitive with many other generation sources. The scale of the wind farms that will be deployed greatly exceed those currently operating and mean that wake-induced power losses are considerable but still relatively poorly constrained. AEP and LCoE exhibited significant dependence on the precise wake model applied. For the largest LA, the AEP differed by over 10% depending on the wake model used, leading to a $10/MWh difference in LCoE for the wind turbine layout with 1.85 km spacing.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Extreme wind shear events in US offshore wind energy areas and the role of induced stratification

As the offshore wind industry emerges on the US East Coast, a comprehensive understanding of the wind resource – particularly extreme events – is vital to the industry's success. Such understanding has been hindered by a lack of publicly available wind profile observations in offshore wind energy areas. However, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority recently funded the deployment of two floating lidars within two current lease areas off the coast of New Jersey. These floating lidars provide publicly available wind speed data from 20 to 200 m height with a 20 m vertical resolution. In this study, we leverage a year of these lidar data to quantify and characterize the frequent occurrence of high-wind-shear and low-level-jet events, both of which will have a considerable impact on turbine operation. In designing a detection algorithm for these events, we find that the typical, non-dimensional power-law-based wind shear exponent is insufficient to identify many of these extreme, high-wind-speed events. Rather, we find that the simple vertical gradient of wind speed better captures the events. Based on this detection method, we find that almost 100 independent events occur throughout the year with mean wind speed at 100 m height and wind speed gradient of 16 m s -1 and 0.05 s -1 , respectively. The events have strong seasonal variability, with the highest number of events in summer and the lowest in winter. A detailed analysis reveals that these events are enabled by an induced stable stratification when warmer air from the south flows over the colder mid-Atlantic waters, leading to a positive air–sea temperature difference.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

National Offshore Wind Energy Grid Interconnection Study

The National Offshore Wind Energy Grid Interconnection Study (NOWEGIS) considers the availability and potential impacts of interconnecting large amounts of offshore wind energy into the transmission system of the lower 48 contiguous United States. A total of 54GW of offshore wind was assumed to be the target for the analyses conducted. A variety of issues are considered including: the anticipated staging of offshore wind; the offshore wind resource availability; offshore wind energy power production profiles; offshore wind variability; present and potential technologies for collection and delivery of offshore wind energy to the onshore grid; potential impacts to existing utility systems most likely to receive large amounts of offshore wind; and regulatory influences on offshore wind development. The technologies considered the reliability of various high-voltage ac (HVAC) and high-voltage dc (HVDC) technology options and configurations. The utility system impacts of GW-scale integration of offshore wind are considered from an operational steady-state perspective and from a regional and national production cost perspective.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Control of Floating Offshore Wind Energy Systems: An Introduction to the Special Issue

As the global demand for renewable energy sources intensifies amid the urgent fight against climate change [1] , offshore wind energy has emerged as a promising and crucial component of the sustainable energy portfolio. Fixed-bottom offshore wind farms have already demonstrated their potential; however, they are limited to relatively shallow waters, typically no deeper than 60 m.

climate change↗
DOE OSTI2024

Review of Feasibility and Cost Drivers for Floating Offshore Wind Energy in Washington State

The state of Washington must double its clean electricity supply by 2050 to meet its clean energy goals and comply with the Clean Energy Transformation Act. With more than 6.6 GW of technical resource potential in federal waters where Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has leasing authority, offshore wind energy could play an important role in diversifying Washington State's clean energy mix, reducing dependence on out-of-state energy sources, and helping meet state decarbonization goals. Decision makers need technology-specific information to assist with long-term energy system planning, so the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management requested that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory provide an overview of several drivers of offshore wind energy feasibility and cost in Washington. This study summarizes some of the existing engagement efforts and perspectives on offshore wind energy in the region and quantifies the offshore wind resources in Washington as well as technology costs and performance of potential projects. Furthermore, this report reviews existing grid and port infrastructure and discusses infrastructure needs along with information gaps. This study also explores opportunities and barriers to Washington entities supporting the broader floating offshore wind energy supply chain along the U.S. West Coast. Note that this study is not part of a formal project planning process or official engagement effort, nor does it assess environmental or economic impacts from potential offshore wind energy development.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Exploring the Grid Value of Offshore Wind Energy in Oregon

The significant offshore wind energy potential of Oregon faces several challenges, including a power grid which was not developed for the purpose of transmitting energy from the ocean. The grid impacts of the energy resource are considered through the lenses of (i) resource complementarity with Variable Renewable Energy resources; (ii) correlations with load profiles from the four balancing authorities with territory in Oregon; and (iii) spatial value to regional and coastal grids as represented through a production cost model of the Western Interconnection. The capacity implications of the interactions between offshore wind and the historical east-to-west power flows of the region are discussed. The existing system is shown to accommodate more than two gigawatts of offshore wind interconnections with minimal curtailment. Through three gigawatts of interconnection, transmission flows indicate a reduction of coastal and statewide energy imports as well as minimal statewide energy exports.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Offshore Wind Energy

In 1991, the Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm, the first offshore wind farm in the world, started feeding electricity to the grid off the coast of Lolland, Denmark. Since then, offshore wind energy has developed from this early experiment to a multibillion dollar market and an important pillar of worldwide renewable energy production. Unit sizes grew from 450 kW at Vindeby to the 7.5 MW-class offshore wind turbines (OWT ) that are currently (by October 2014) in the prototyping phase. This chapter gives an overview of the state of the art in offshore wind turbine (OWT) technology and introduces the principles of modeling and simulating an OWT. The OWT components -- including the rotor, nacelle, support structure, control system, and power electronics -- are introduced, and current technological challenges are presented. The OWT system dynamics and the environment (wind and ocean waves) are described from the perspective of OWT modelers and designers. Finally, an outlook on future technology is provided. The descriptions in this chapter are focused on a single OWT -- more precisely, a horizontal-axis wind turbine -- as a dynamic system. Offshore wind farms and wind farm effects are not described in detail in this chapter, but an introduction and further references are given.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Cost of Offshore Wind Energy in the United States From 2025 to 2050

This study presents estimates of the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of offshore wind energy throughout major U.S. coastal regions between a time frame of 2025 - 2050. The LCOE modeling accounts for impacts of supply chain shocks, inflation, and rising interest rates on cost. Given the near-term uncertainty in these factors, we present three possible scenarios driven by how uncertainty in costs, technology, and deployment may evolve over time. The cost increases reported by industry in recent years will likely be felt over next several years, but we expect long-term cost reductions enabled by growing offshore wind deployment and industry learning. This study helps inform decision-makers about the potential role that offshore wind energy can play in future clean energy strategies.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Benefits and Burdens: Exploring the Role of Community Benefits in Wind Energy Development [Slides]

In this webinar hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's WINDExchange initiative, NREL will provide an introduction to community benefit agreements (CBAs) and related funds and investments that serve as voluntary mechanisms that developers may utilize to provide additional financial and/or non-financial benefits for communities impacted by wind energy projects. Community benefits can come in different forms, be developed through diverse processes, and have varying impacts on key outcomes in the wind industry like project success and equity. This webinar explores the nuances of community benefits from multiple angles and provides insights that are relevant to land-based wind energy, offshore wind energy, and other renewable energy technologies.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering Curriculum Development

Utility-scale electricity produced from offshore wind farms has the potential to contribute significantly to the energy production of the United States. In order for the U.S. to rapidly develop these abundant resources, knowledgeable scientists and engineers with sound understanding of offshore wind energy systems are critical. This report summarizes the development of an upper-level engineering course in "Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering." This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of both the technical challenges of offshore wind energy and the practical regulatory, permitting, and planning aspects of developing offshore wind farms in the U.S. This course was offered on a pilot basis in 2011 at the University of Massachusetts and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), TU Delft, and GL Garrad Hassan have reviewed its content. As summarized in this report, the course consists of 17 separate topic areas emphasizing appropriate engineering fundamentals as well as development, planning, and regulatory issues. In addition to the course summary, the report gives the details of a public Internet site where references and related course material can be obtained. This course will fill a pressing need for the education and training of the U.S. workforce in this critically important area. Fundamentally, this course will be unique due to two attributes: an emphasis on the engineering and technical aspects of offshore wind energy systems, and a focus on offshore wind energy issues specific to the United States.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States

This report, the 2016 Offshore Wind Energy Resource Assessment for the United States, was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and updates a previous national resource assessment study, and refines and reaffirms that the available wind resource is sufficient for offshore wind to be a large-scale contributor to the nation's electric energy supply.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2015

Metocean Data Needs Assessment for U.S. Offshore Wind Energy

A potential barrier to developing offshore wind energy in the United States is the general lack of accurate information in most offshore areas about the wind resource characteristics and external metocean design conditions at the heights and depths relevant to wind turbines and their associated structures and components. Knowledge of these conditions enables specification of the appropriate design basis for wind turbine structures and components so they can withstand the loads expected over a project’s lifetime. Human safety, vessel navigation, and project construction and maintenance activities are equally tied to the metocean environment. Currently, metocean data is sparse in potential development areas and even when available, does not include the detail or quality required to make informed decisions.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Detecting and characterizing simulated sea breezes over the US northeastern coast with implications for offshore wind energy

Abstract. With the planned construction of vast offshore wind farms along the US East Coast, identifying and understanding key coastal processes, such as sea breezes, has become a critical need for the sustainability and development of US offshore wind energy. In this study, a new two-step identification method is proposed to detect and characterize three types of sea breezes (pure, corkscrew and backdoor) over the US northeastern coast from a year-long WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) simulation. The results suggest that the proposed detection method can identify the three different types of sea breezes in the model simulation. Key sea breeze features, such as the calm zone associated with pure sea breezes and coastal jets associated with corkscrew sea breezes, are evident in the sea breeze composite imagery. In addition, the simulated sea breeze events indicate a seasonal transition from pure to corkscrew sea breeze between March and August as the land–sea thermal contrast increases. Furthermore, the location and extension of the sea breeze front are different for each type of sea breeze, suggesting that the coastal impact of sea breeze varies with sea breeze type. From the wind energy perspective, the power production associated with a 10 MW offshore wind turbine would be approximately 3 to 4 times larger during a corkscrew sea breeze event than the other two types of sea breezes. This highlights the importance of identifying the correct type of sea breeze in numerical weather/wind energy forecasting.

17 WIND ENERGY↗