Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 387 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2660 To establish a grant program for wind energy research, development, and demonstration, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Ms. SMITH (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources DECEMBER 18, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with amendments and an amendment to the title [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To establish a grant program for wind energy research, development, and demonstration, and for other purposes. 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2660 RS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 3 ty’’ means— 4 (A) an institution of higher education; 5 (B) a National Laboratory; 6 (C) a Federal research agency; 7 (D) a State research agency; 8 (E) a nonprofit research organization; 9 (F) an industrial entity; and 10 (G) a consortium of two or more entities 11 described in subparagraphs (A) through (F). 12 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 13 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 14 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 16 (3) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 17 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 18 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 19 U.S.C. 15801). 20 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 21 the program established under section 3(a). 22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of Energy. 24 (6) SUPERSIZED TURBINE.—The term ‘‘super- 25 sized turbine’’ means a 12-megawatt or greater wind 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2660 RS turbine that typically has a tower height greater 1 than 140 meters and blades greater than 75 meters. 2 SEC. 3. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH, DEVELOP- 3 MENT, AND TESTING GRANT PROGRAM. 4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 6 a program under which the Secretary shall award 7 grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eli- 8 gible entities to conduct research, development, test- 9 ing, and evaluation of wind energy technologies in 10 accordance with this section. 11 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program 12 are the following: 13 (A) To improve the energy efficiency, reli- 14 ability, resilience, security, and capacity of wind 15 energy generation. 16 (B) To optimize the design and control of 17 wind energy systems for the broadest practical 18 range of atmospheric conditions. 19 (C) To reduce the cost and risk of permit- 20 ting, construction, operation, and maintenance 21 of wind energy systems, including using tech- 22 nologies to reduce environmental and commu- 23 nity impacts, improve grid integration, and re- 24 duce regulatory barriers. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2660 RS (D) To improve materials, engineering, 1 and manufacturing processes for turbines, in- 2 cluding supersized turbines. 3 (E) To optimize wind plant performance 4 and integration within hybrid energy systems to 5 enhance cost efficiency and electric grid sta- 6 bility and resilience. 7 (3) COORDINATION.—To the maximum extent 8 practicable, the Secretary shall coordinate activities 9 under the program with other relevant programs and 10 capabilities of the Department of Energy and other 11 Federal research programs. 12 (b) GRANT SUBJECT AREAS.—In addition to award- 13 ing the grants described in subsections (c) through (e), 14 the Secretary shall award grants under the program to 15 eligible entities to carry out research, development, test- 16 ing, and evaluation in the following subject areas: 17 (1) Wind power plant performance and oper- 18 ations, including— 19 (A) wind flows and turbine-to-turbine 20 interactions; 21 (B) energy conversion potential; 22 (C) turbine and wind plant control para- 23 digms; 24 (D) turbine and wind plant security; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2660 RS (E) turbine components; and 1 (F) integrated hybrid plant systems. 2 (2) New materials and designs relating to 3 blades, rotors, towers, and drivetrains, including— 4 (A) higher tip speed rotor designs; 5 (B) low-noise rotor designs; 6 (C) advanced drivetrain and generator con- 7 cepts; 8 (D) modular construction and onsite or 9 near-site manufacturing and assembly tech- 10 niques, including the use of additive manufac- 11 turing; 12 (E) sustainable and recyclable materials, 13 including thermoplastics, and manufacturing 14 systems; 15 (F) supersized turbine design and installa- 16 tion approaches; and 17 (G) lightweight materials. 18 (3) Offshore wind-specific projects, including— 19 (A) fixed and floating substructure con- 20 cepts; 21 (B) projects to assess and mitigate the im- 22 pacts of hurricane wind flow, freshwater ice, 23 and other conditions specific to the United 24 States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2660 RS (C) innovative operations and maintenance 1 strategies; 2 (D) analysis of offshore meteorological, ge- 3 ological, and oceanographic data collection; 4 (E) offshore infrastructure monitoring; 5 and 6 (F) analysis of corrosion and fatigue for 7 the purpose of extending the design life of off- 8 shore wind turbine substructures. 9 (4) Recycling and reuse of wind energy compo- 10 nents. 11 (5) Wind power forecasting and atmospheric 12 measurement systems, including for turbines and 13 plant systems of varying height. 14 (6) Distributed wind-specific projects, includ- 15 ing— 16 (A) cost-effective turbine designs, compo- 17 nents, and manufacturing; and 18 (B) microgrid applications. 19 (7) Advanced transportation mechanisms for 20 wind turbine components. 21 (8) Transformational technologies for har- 22 nessing wind energy, including airborne wind energy 23 concepts. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2660 RS (9) Methods to extend the operational lifetime 1 of onshore and offshore wind turbines and systems. 2 (10) Other research areas, as determined by the 3 Secretary. 4 (c) WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION AND 5 MARKET TRANSFORMATION GRANTS.— 6 (1) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In carrying 7 out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to 8 eligible entities to carry out demonstration projects 9 that demonstrate and validate new wind energy tech- 10 nologies that have the potential to be cost-competi- 11 tive for land-based, offshore, and distributed applica- 12 tions. 13 (2) FACILITY FOR HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEM RE- 14 SEARCH GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 15 Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to 16 establish a facility or support an existing facility in 17 conducting research and demonstration projects for 18 wind turbines and plants in hybrid energy systems 19 that incorporate diverse generation sources, loads, 20 and storage technologies. 21 (3) OFFSHORE RESEARCH FACILITY GRANTS.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 23 program, the Secretary shall award grants to 24 eligible entities to establish a facility to conduct 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2660 RS research, development, and demonstration 1 projects, in coordination with the oceanic and 2 atmospheric science communities, for ocean and 3 atmospheric resource characterization relevant 4 to offshore wind energy development. 5 (B) FACILITY REQUIREMENTS.—A facility 6 established using a grant under subparagraph 7 (A) shall be an offshore facility used to evalu- 8 ate, test, and advance atmospheric, oceanic, bio- 9 logic, and geologic monitoring technologies that 10 improve offshore wind energy development, in- 11 cluding the generation of benchmark data sets 12 for testing offshore wind energy technologies 13 and informing how those technologies may be 14 financed, insured, and regulated. 15 (4) OFFSHORE SUPPORT STRUCTURE TESTING 16 FACILITY GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, 17 the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities 18 to establish a facility to conduct research, develop- 19 ment, and demonstration projects for large-scale and 20 full-scale offshore wind energy support structure 21 components and systems, with an emphasis on inno- 22 vative structures, including floating substructures. 23 (5) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking 24 a grant under this subsection shall submit to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2660 RS Secretary an application at such time, in such man- 1 ner, and containing such information as the Sec- 2 retary may require, including, in the case of an ap- 3 plication for a grant under paragraph (1), a certifi- 4 cation that the proposed demonstration project shall 5 be— 6 (A) conducted in collaboration with indus- 7 try and, as appropriate, with institutions of 8 higher education and other Federal research 9 programs; and 10 (B) of sufficient size and geographic diver- 11 sity to measure wind energy system perform- 12 ance under the full productive range of wind 13 conditions in the United States. 14 (d) WIND ENERGY INCUBATOR GRANTS.—In car- 15 rying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants 16 to eligible entities to support innovative technologies that 17 are not significantly represented in— 18 (1) the portfolio of wind energy research activi- 19 ties carried out by the Secretary as of the date of 20 enactment of this Act; or 21 (2) technology roadmaps used by the Depart- 22 ment of Energy as of that date. 23 (e) MITIGATING REGULATORY AND MARKET BAR- 24 RIER GRANTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2660 RS (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, 1 the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities 2 to research, develop, test, and evaluate ways to re- 3 duce regulatory and market barriers to the wide- 4 spread adoption of wind power, including— 5 (A) grid transmission and integration chal- 6 lenges; and 7 (B) permitting issues associated with the 8 potential impacts of wind power systems on 9 wildlife, radar systems, local communities, mili- 10 tary operations, and airspace. 11 (2) WILDLIFE IMPACT MITIGATION.—Of the 12 grants awarded under paragraph (1), the Secretary 13 shall ensure that a substantial portion include the 14 development, testing, and evaluation of wildlife im- 15 pact mitigation technologies or strategies to reduce 16 the potential impacts of wind energy facilities on— 17 (A) bald and golden eagles; 18 (B) bat species; 19 (C) marine wildlife; and 20 (D) other impacted species. 21 (f) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—In carrying out 22 the program, the Secretary shall support education and 23 outreach activities to disseminate information and pro- 24 mote public understanding of wind technologies and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2660 RS wind energy workforce, including the Collegiate Wind 1 Competition. 2 (1) ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREA.—The 3 term ‘‘economically distressed area’’ means an area 4 described in section 301(a) of the Public Works and 5 Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 6 3161(a)). 7 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 8 ty’’ means— 9 (A) an institution of higher education; 10 (B) a National Laboratory; 11 (C) a Federal research agency; 12 (D) a State research agency; 13 (E) a research agency associated with a ter- 14 ritory or freely associated state; 15 (F) a tribal energy development organiza- 16 tion; 17 (G) an Indian tribe; 18 (H) a tribal organization; 19 (I) a Native Hawaiian community-based 20 organization; 21 (J) a nonprofit research organization; 22 (K) an industrial entity; 23 (L) any other entity, as determined by the 24 Secretary; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2660 RS (M) a consortium of 2 or more entities de- 1 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (L). 2 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has 3 the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian 4 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 5 U.S.C. 5304). 6 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the mean- 8 ing given the term in section 101 of the Higher Edu- 9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 10 (5) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 11 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term in 12 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 13 15801). 14 (6) NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY-BASED ORGA- 15 NIZATION.—The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian community- 16 based organization’’ has the meaning given the term 17 in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary 18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517). 19 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means the 20 program established under section 3(a). 21 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 22 the Secretary of Energy. 23 (9) TERRITORY OR FREELY ASSOCIATED 24 STATE.—The term ‘‘territory or freely associated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:09 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2660.RS S2660 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2660 RS state’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘insular area’’ 1 in section 1404 of the Food and Agriculture Act of 2 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103). 3 (10) TRIBAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZA- 4 TION.—The term ‘‘tribal energy development organi- 5 zation’’ has the meaning given the term in section 6 2601 of t [Text truncated for display. 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