Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2019

IB Union Calendar No. 398 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3609 [Report No. 116–497] To provide for a program of wind energy research, development, and demonstration, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 2, 2019 Mr. TONKO (for himself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Additional sponsors: Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. MCADAMS SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 2, 2019] VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3609 RH A BILL To provide for a program of wind energy research, development, and demonstration, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3609 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wind Energy Research 4 and Development Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH, DEVELOP- 6 MENT AND TESTING PROGRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (in this 8 Act, referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out a pro- 9 gram to conduct research, development, testing, and evalua- 10 tion of wind energy technologies. In carrying out such pro- 11 gram and in accordance with subsection (b), the Secretary 12 shall award grants and enter into contracts and cooperative 13 agreements under this section and sections 3, 4, and 5 for 14 each of the following purposes: 15 (1) To improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 16 resilience, security, and capacity of wind energy gen- 17 eration. 18 (2) To optimize the design and control of wind 19 energy systems for the broadest practical range of at- 20 mospheric conditions. 21 (3) To reduce the cost and risk of permitting, 22 construction, operation, and maintenance of wind en- 23 ergy systems, including technologies to reduce envi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3609 RH ronmental and community impacts, improve grid in- 1 tegration, and reduce regulatory barriers. 2 (4) To improve materials, engineering, and man- 3 ufacturing processes for turbines, including supersized 4 turbines. 5 (5) To optimize wind plant performance and in- 6 tegration within hybrid energy systems to enhance 7 cost efficiency and electric grid stability and resil- 8 ience. 9 (b) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREE- 10 MENTS.— 11 (1) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 12 Secretary shall award grants on a competitive, merit- 13 reviewed basis to eligible entities for projects that the 14 Secretary determines would best achieve the goals of 15 the program. 16 (2) CONTRACTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREE- 17 MENTS.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary 18 may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements 19 with eligible entities and Federal agencies for projects 20 that the Secretary determines would further the pur- 21 poses of the program. 22 (3) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking funding or 23 a contract or agreement under this subsection shall 24 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3609 RH in such manner, and containing such information as 1 the Secretary may require. 2 (c) WIND ENERGY RESEARCH SUBJECT AREAS.—The 3 program established under subsection (a) shall focus on the 4 research, development, testing, and evaluation of each of the 5 following subject areas: 6 (1) Wind power plant performance and oper- 7 ations including— 8 (A) wind flows and turbine-to-turbine inter- 9 actions; 10 (B) energy conversion potential; 11 (C) turbine and wind plant control para- 12 digms; 13 (D) turbine and wind plant security; 14 (E) turbine components; and 15 (F) integrated hybrid plant systems. 16 (2) New materials and designs related to blades, 17 rotors, towers and drivetrains including— 18 (A) higher tip speed rotor designs; 19 (B) low noise rotor designs; 20 (C) advanced drivetrain and generator con- 21 cepts; 22 (D) modular construction and onsite or 23 near-site manufacturing and assembly tech- 24 niques; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3609 RH (E) sustainable and recyclable materials 1 and manufacturing systems; 2 (F) supersized turbine design and installa- 3 tion approaches; and 4 (G) lightweight materials. 5 (3) Offshore wind-specific projects including— 6 (A) fixed and floating substructure concepts; 7 (B) projects to assess and mitigate the im- 8 pacts of hurricane wind flow, freshwater ice, and 9 other United States-specific conditions; 10 (C) innovative operations and maintenance 11 strategies; 12 (D) analysis of offshore meteorological, geo- 13 logical, and oceanographic data collection; 14 (E) offshore infrastructure monitoring; and 15 (F) analysis of corrosion and fatigue for the 16 purpose of extending the design life of offshore 17 wind turbine substructures. 18 (4) Recycling and reuse of wind energy compo- 19 nents. 20 (5) Wind power forecasting and atmospheric 21 measurement systems, including for turbines and 22 plant systems of varying height. 23 (6) Distributed wind-specific projects, includ- 24 ing— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3609 RH (A) cost-effective turbine designs, compo- 1 nents, and manufacturing; and 2 (B) microgrid applications. 3 (7) Advanced transportation mechanisms for 4 wind turbine components. 5 (8) Transformational technologies for harnessing 6 wind energy, including airborne wind energy con- 7 cepts. 8 (9) Methods to extend the operational lifetime of 9 onshore and offshore wind turbines and systems. 10 (10) Storage technologies to address the tran- 11 sience and intermittency of wind energy resources. 12 (11) Other research areas as determined by the 13 Secretary. 14 (d) REPORT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 17 shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and 18 Technology of the House of Representatives and the 19 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 20 Senate a report on the potential for, and technical vi- 21 ability of, airborne wind energy systems to provide a 22 significant source of energy in the United States. 23 (2) CONTENTS.—The report under paragraph (1) 24 shall include a summary of research, development, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3609 RH and demonstration needs, including an estimate of 1 Federal funding requirements, to further examine and 2 validate the technical and economic viability of air- 3 borne wind energy concepts over the 10-year period 4 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 5 (e) COORDINATION.—To the maximum extent prac- 6 ticable, the Secretary shall coordinate activities under the 7 program established under subsection (a) with other rel- 8 evant programs and capabilities of the Department of En- 9 ergy and other Federal research programs. 10 (f) CONFORMING REPEALS.— 11 (1) Section 931(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act 12 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231(a)(2)) is amended by strik- 13 ing subparagraph (B). 14 (2) Section 4(a) of the Renewable Energy and 15 Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 16 1989 (42 U.S.C. 12003(a)) is amended by striking 17 paragraph (1). 18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any of the 20 following entities: 21 (A) An institution of higher education. 22 (B) A National Laboratory. 23 (C) A Federal research agency. 24 (D) A State research agency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3609 RH (E) A nonprofit research organization. 1 (F) An industrial entity or a multi-institu- 2 tional consortium thereof. 3 (2) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 4 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the 5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 6 (3) The term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ has the 7 meaning given such term in section 2(3) of the En- 8 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801(3)). 9 (4) The term ‘‘supersized turbine’’ means a 12 10 megawatt or greater wind turbine, typically with a 11 tower height greater than 140 meters and blades 12 greater than 75 meters. 13 SEC. 3. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION AND MAR- 14 KET TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program estab- 16 lished under section 2(a), the Secretary shall conduct a 17 wind energy technology validation and market trans- 18 formation program under which the Secretary shall award 19 grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible en- 20 tities to support activities that demonstrate and validate 21 new wind energy technologies with the potential to be cost- 22 competitive for land-based, offshore, and distributed appli- 23 cations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3609 RH (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 1 under this section shall submit an application in such form 2 and manner as the Secretary may prescribe and that con- 3 tains— 4 (1) a certification that any demonstration 5 project carried out using grant funds are— 6 (A) conducted in collaboration with indus- 7 try and, as appropriate, with institutions of 8 higher education and other Federal research pro- 9 grams; and 10 (B) of sufficient size and geographic diver- 11 sity to measure wind energy system performance 12 under the full productive range of wind condi- 13 tions in the United States; and 14 (2) such other information as the Secretary may 15 require. 16 (c) FACILITY FOR HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEM RE- 17 SEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In carrying 18 out the program established under subsection (a), the Sec- 19 retary shall establish or support a facility to conduct re- 20 search and demonstration projects for wind turbines and 21 plants in hybrid energy systems that incorporate diverse 22 generation sources, loads, and storage technologies. 23 (d) OFFSHORE RESEARCH FACILITY.—In carrying out 24 the program established under subsection (a), the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3609 RH shall establish a facility to conduct research, development, 1 and demonstration projects for ocean and atmospheric re- 2 source characterization relevant to offshore wind energy de- 3 velopment in coordination with the ocean and atmospheric 4 science communities. The facility shall be an offshore area 5 used to evaluate, test, and advance atmospheric, oceanic, 6 biologic, and geologic monitoring technologies that improve 7 offshore wind energy development, including the generation 8 of benchmark data sets for testing offshore wind energy tech- 9 nologies and informing how such technologies can be fi- 10 nanced, insured, and regulated. 11 (e) OFFSHORE SUPPORT STRUCTURE TESTING FACIL- 12 ITY.—In carrying out the program established under sub- 13 section (a), the Secretary shall create a facility to conduct 14 research, development, and demonstration projects for large- 15 scale and full-scale offshore wind energy support structure 16 components and systems. 17 SEC. 4. WIND ENERGY INCUBATOR FUNDING. 18 In carrying out the program established under section 19 2(a), the Secretary shall conduct research, development, 20 testing, and evaluation activities, in accordance with sec- 21 tion 2(b), to support innovative technologies that are not 22 represented in a significant way in— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3609 RH (1) the portfolio of wind energy research activi- 1 ties carried out by the Department of Energy as of 2 the date of the enactment of this Act; or 3 (2) technology roadmaps used by the Department 4 of Energy as of such date of enactment. 5 SEC. 5. MITIGATING REGULATORY AND MARKET BARRIERS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program estab- 7 lished under section 2(a), the Secretary shall research, de- 8 velop, test, and evaluate, in accordance with section 2(b), 9 ways to reduce regulatory and market barriers to the wide- 10 spread adoption of wind power, including— 11 (1) grid transmission and integration challenges; 12 and 13 (2) permitting issues associated with the poten- 14 tial impacts of wind power systems on wildlife, radar 15 systems, local communities, military operations, and 16 airspace. 17 (b) WILDLIFE IMPACT MITIGATION.—In carrying out 18 the activities described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall 19 support the development, testing, and evaluation of wildlife 20 impact mitigation technologies or strategies to reduce the 21 potential impacts of wind energy facilities on— 22 (1) bald and golden eagles; 23 (2) bat species; 24 (3) marine wildlife; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Sep 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3609.RH H3609 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3609 RH (4) other impacted species. 1 (c) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—In carrying out the 2 activities described in subsection (a), the Secretary shall 3 support education and outreach activities to disseminate 4 information and promote public understanding of wind 5 technologies and the wind energy workforce, including the 6 Collegiate Wind Competition. 7 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 8 There are aut [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]