US awarding $14.5 million for offshore wind environmental research

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is allocating up to $14.5 million for environmental research to support U.S. offshore wind development.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will support regionally-focused, coordinated research efforts to increase understanding of the environmental impacts of offshore wind, as well as projects that advance and validate tools to monitor and minimize impacts.

“This research will help address challenges to offshore wind development on both the east and west coasts of the United States,” said Daniel R Simmons, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “These projects will develop the knowledge and tools we need to support environmentally sound development of this valuable energy resource.”

This FOA was released in conjunction with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, and in coordination with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

It will support work across three topic areas, including the development of methodologies and evaluation of offshore wind impacts on wildlife in U.S. Atlantic waters, as well as the development of methodologies and evaluation of offshore wind impacts on the ecology of commercially fished species.

The third topic area will focus on environmental baseline studies and monitoring technology development and validation focused on U.S. waters off of the West Coast, in preparation for future floating offshore wind development.

Concept papers are due on 1 March.