Wind Energy Technologies Office Updates - 2020

Wind Energy / Resource Evaluation

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has deployed two lidar buoys off the coast of California. One buoy is deployed in approximately 625 meters of water off the north coast and another in approximately 1,000 meters of water off the central coast. The buoys are collecting data—for the first time off the west coast of the United States—to support the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in wind energy projects where they may develop and lease wind sites. Learn more about the buoys and recent upgrades that make them more powerful.

Maps Provide Easy-to-Understand Snapshots of Wind Resources

The ability to assess and characterize available wind resources is critical to the development, siting, and operation of a wind plant. DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO), which supports efforts to accurately define, measure, and forecast the nation’s land-based and offshore wind resources, recently announced a series of new and improved regional wind resource maps for the Northeast region of the United States.  

The latest Mid-Atlantic maps and more are available on WINDExchange. Wind resource maps for the Great Lakes region are planned for a release by the end of the year, with more maps to follow. 

Learn more about wind resource maps, how they serve as both art and science, and meet a cartographer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). 

EERE is Hiring!

Are you an engineer or scientist interested in working for DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)? EERE is searching for enthusiastic, driven and committed professionals to fill our vacant positions. DOE has Direct Hire Authority for General Engineers that allows EERE to hire more quickly than through the traditional government hiring process. EERE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office is seeking a General Engineer with experience in power electronics/power systems engineering. If you’re interested in one of these positions, please email EEREhiring@ee.doe.gov and include your name, the best way you can be reached, and the position and EERE office that interests you. Then attach your resume.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not include personal information in your resume. We do NOT want you to include your social security number, photos of you, information about your age or gender, or any government-sensitive information. If EERE is interested after reviewing your resume, the DOE Human Capital office will contact you to request a transcript demonstrating that your educational background meets the basic eligibility requirements of the position in question.

 Just Released: Fall 2020 Wind R&D Newsletter

The Fall 2020 edition of the Wind Research and Development (R&D) Newsletter highlights recent WETO-funded research, such as a supercharged suite of physics codes that enables researchers to test wind power plant designs in real time, how supersized wind turbines impact grid-system value, and a new methodology for assessing bearing axial cracking in wind turbine gearboxes. A roundup of news and publications makes it easy for you to keep abreast of the latest in wind R&D.

Subscribe to the newsletter to learn more about WETO and National Laboratory R&D projects, news, accomplishments, and recent publications.