--- kind: "diff" citation: "S. 2660" bill: "116-s-2660" heading: "Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2019" from: "is" from_label: "Introduced in Senate" to: "rs" to_label: "Reported in Senate" sections_amended: 2 sections_added: 0 sections_removed: 0 url: "https://uscodex.org/bills/116/s/2660/changes/rs" --- # S. 2660 — what changed S. 2660, Wind Energy Research and Development Act of 2019 — 2 sections amended between Introduced in Senate and Reported in Senate. Edits are marked `struck` and `inserted`. ## Sec. 3 Wind energy technology program - (a) Establishment— - (1) In general— The Secretary shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall award grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible entities to conduct research, development, testing, evaluation, demonstration, and evaluation commercialization of wind energy technologies in accordance with this section. - (2) Purposes— The purposes of the program are the following: - (A) To improve the energy efficiency, cost effectiveness, reliability, resilience, security, integration, manufacturability, and capacity recyclability of wind energy generation.technologies. - (B) To optimize the design performance and control operation of wind energy systems for components, turbines, and systems, including through the broadest practical range development of atmospheric conditions.new materials, hardware, and software. - (C) To reduce optimize the cost and risk of permitting, construction, operation, design and maintenance adaptability of wind energy systems, including using technologies to reduce environmental and community impacts, improve grid integration, the broadest practical range of geographic, atmospheric, offshore, and reduce regulatory barriers.other site conditions, including— - (i) at varying hub heights; and - (ii) through the use of computer modeling. - (D) To improve materials, engineering, and manufacturing processes for turbines, including supersized turbines.support the integration of wind energy technologies with— - (i) the electric grid, including transmission, distribution, microgrids, and distributed energy systems; and - (ii) other energy technologies and systems, such as— - (I) other generation sources; - (II) demand response technologies; - (III) energy storage technologies; and - (IV) hybrid systems. - (E) To optimize wind plant performance and integration within hybrid energy systems to enhance reduce the cost efficiency and electric grid stability and resilience.risk across the lifespan of wind energy technologies, including— - (i) manufacturing, permitting, construction, operations, maintenance, and recycling; and - (ii) through the development of solutions to transportation barriers to wind components. - (F) To reduce and mitigate any potential negative impacts of wind energy technologies on— - (i) human communities; - (ii) military operations; - (iii) aviation; - (iv) radar; and - (v) wildlife and wildlife habitats. - (G) To address barriers to the commercialization and export of wind energy technologies. - (H) To support the domestic wind industry, workforce, and supply chain. - (3) Coordination—Targets— To Not later than 180 days after the maximum extent practicable, date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall coordinate activities under establish targets for the program with other relevant programs relating to near-term (up to 2 years), mid-term (up to 7 years), and capabilities of long-term (up to 15 years) challenges to the Department advancement of Energy wind energy technologies, including onshore and other Federal research programs.offshore technologies. - (b) Activities— - (1) Types of activities— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall carry out research, development, demonstration, and commercialization activities, including— - (A) awarding grants and awards, on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis; - (B) performing precompetitive research and development; - (C) establishing or maintaining demonstration facilities and projects, including through stewardship of existing facilities such as the National Wind Test Center; - (D) providing technical assistance; - (E) entering into contracts and cooperative agreements; - (F) providing small business vouchers; - (G) conducting education and outreach activities; - (H) conducting workforce training activities; and - (I) conducting analyses, studies, and reports. - (b) Grant subject areas— In addition to awarding the grants described in subsections (c) through (e), the Secretary shall award grants under the program to eligible entities to carry out research, development, testing, and evaluation in the following subject areas: - (2) Subject areas— Wind power plant performance The Secretary shall carry out research, development, testing, evaluation, demonstration, and operations, including—commercialization activities in the following subject areas: - (A) wind flows and turbine-to-turbine interactions; - (A) energy conversion potential;Wind power plant performance, operations, and security. - (B) turbine New materials and designs relating to all hardware, software, and components of wind plant control paradigms;energy technologies, including alternatives to minerals and other commodities from foreign sources that are determined to be vulnerable to disruption. - (C) turbine and Advanced wind plant security;energy manufacturing technologies and practices, including materials, processes, and design. - (D) turbine components; andOffshore wind-specific projects and plants, including— - (i) the deep water floating systems, materials, components, and operation of offshore facilities; and - (ii) the monitoring and analysis of site and environmental considerations unique to offshore sites. - (E) integrated hybrid plant systems.Integration of wind energy technologies with— - (i) the electric grid, including transmission, distribution, microgrids, and distributed energy systems; and - (ii) other energy technologies, including— - (I) other generation sources; - (II) demand response technologies; and - (III) energy storage technologies. - (F) Methods to improve the lifetime, maintenance, recycling, and reuse of wind energy components and systems. - (2) New materials and designs relating to blades, rotors, towers, and drivetrains, including— - (A) higher tip speed rotor designs; - (B) low-noise rotor designs; - (C) advanced drivetrain and generator concepts; - (D) modular construction and onsite or near-site manufacturing and assembly techniques, including the use of additive manufacturing; - (E) sustainable and recyclable materials, including thermoplastics, and manufacturing systems; - (F) supersized turbine design and installation approaches; and - (G) lightweight materials. - (3) Offshore wind-specific projects, including— - (A) fixed and floating substructure concepts; - (B) projects to assess and mitigate the impacts of hurricane wind flow, freshwater ice, and other conditions specific to the United States; - (C) innovative operations and maintenance strategies; - (D) analysis of offshore meteorological, geological, and oceanographic data collection; - (E) offshore infrastructure monitoring; and - (F) analysis of corrosion and fatigue for the purpose of extending the design life of offshore wind turbine substructures. - (4) Recycling and reuse of wind energy components. - (G) [was (3)(7)] Wind power forecasting and atmospheric measurement systems, including for turbines and plant systems of varying height. - (H) Hybrid wind energy systems that incorporate diverse— - (i) generation sources; - (ii) loads; and - (iii) storage technologies. - (I) Reducing, including through education and outreach activities, market barriers to the adoption of wind energy technologies, such as impacts on, or challenges relating to— - (i) distributed wind technologies, including the development of best practices, models, and voluntary streamlined processes for local permitting of distributed wind energy systems to reduce costs; - (ii) airspace; - (iii) military uses; - (iv) radar; - (v) local communities; - (vi) wildlife and wildlife habitats; and - (vii) any other appropriate matter, as determined by the Secretary. - (J) Advanced physics-based and data analysis computational tools, in coordination with the high-performance computing programs of the Department of Energy. - (K) Transformational technologies for harnessing wind energy. - (L) Other research areas that advance the purposes of the program, as determined by the Secretary. - (3) Prioritization— In carrying out activities under the program, the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— - (A) are located in geographically diverse regions of the United States; - (B) support the development or demonstration of projects— - (i) in collaboration with tribal energy development organizations, Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian community-based organizations, or territories or freely associated states; or - (ii) in economically distressed areas; - (C) can be replicated in a variety of regions and climates; - (D) include business commercialization plans that have the potential for— - (i) domestic manufacturing and production of wind energy technologies; or - (ii) exports of wind energy technologies; and - (E) satisfy any other priority that the Secretary determines to be appropriate. - (4) Coordination— To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall coordinate activities under the program with other relevant programs and capabilities of the Department of Energy and other Federal research programs. - (c) Wind technician training grant program— The Secretary may award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to purchase large pieces of wind component equipment, such as nacelles, towers, and blades, for use in training wind technician students in onshore or offshore wind applications. - (6) Distributed wind-specific projects, including— - (A) cost-effective turbine designs, components, and manufacturing; and - (B) microgrid applications. - (7) Advanced transportation mechanisms for wind turbine components. - (8) Transformational technologies for harnessing wind energy, including airborne wind energy concepts. - (9) Methods to extend the operational lifetime of onshore and offshore wind turbines and systems. - (10) Other research areas, as determined by the Secretary. - (c) Wind energy technology validation and market transformation grants— - (1) Demonstration projects— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to carry out demonstration projects that demonstrate and validate new wind energy technologies that have the potential to be cost-competitive for land-based, offshore, and distributed applications. - (2) Facility for hybrid energy system research grants— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to establish a facility or support an existing facility in conducting research and demonstration projects for wind turbines and plants in hybrid energy systems that incorporate diverse generation sources, loads, and storage technologies. - (3) Offshore research facility grants— - (A) In general— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to establish a facility to conduct research, development, and demonstration projects, in coordination with the oceanic and atmospheric science communities, for ocean and atmospheric resource characterization relevant to offshore wind energy development. - (B) Facility requirements— A facility established using a grant under subparagraph (A) shall be an offshore facility used to evaluate, test, and advance atmospheric, oceanic, biologic, and geologic monitoring technologies that improve offshore wind energy development, including the generation of benchmark data sets for testing offshore wind energy technologies and informing how those technologies may be financed, insured, and regulated. - (4) Offshore support structure testing facility grants— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to establish a facility to conduct research, development, and demonstration projects for large-scale and full-scale offshore wind energy support structure components and systems, with an emphasis on innovative structures, including floating substructures. - (5) Applications— An eligible entity seeking a grant under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including, in the case of an application for a grant under paragraph (1), a certification that the proposed demonstration project shall be— - (A) conducted in collaboration with industry and, as appropriate, with institutions of higher education and other Federal research programs; and - (B) of sufficient size and geographic diversity to measure wind energy system performance under the full productive range of wind conditions in the United States. - (d) Wind energy incubator grants— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to support innovative technologies that are not significantly represented in— - (1) the portfolio of wind energy research activities carried out by the Secretary as of the date of enactment of this Act; or - (2) technology roadmaps used by the Department of Energy as of that date. - (e) Mitigating regulatory and market barrier grants— - (1) In general— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to research, develop, test, and evaluate ways to reduce regulatory and market barriers to the widespread adoption of wind power, including— - (A) grid transmission and integration challenges; and - (B) permitting issues associated with the potential impacts of wind power systems on wildlife, radar systems, local communities, military operations, and airspace. - (2) Wildlife impact mitigation— Of the grants awarded under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that a substantial portion include the development, testing, and evaluation of wildlife impact mitigation technologies or strategies to reduce the potential impacts of wind energy facilities on— - (A) bald and golden eagles; - (B) bat species; - (C) marine wildlife; and - (D) other impacted species. - (f) Education and outreach— In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall support education and outreach activities to disseminate information and promote public understanding of wind technologies and the wind energy workforce, including the Collegiate Wind Competition. - (g)(d) [was (8)] Wages— Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors on projects funded by grants under this section shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a similar character in the locality, as determined by the Secretary of Labor, in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. - (h) [was (9)] Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program— - (1) [was (9)(3)] $103,692,000 for fiscal year 2020; - (2) [was (9)(4)] $108,876,600 for fiscal year 2021; - (3) [was (9)(5)] $114,320,430 for fiscal year 2022; - (4) [was (9)(6)] $120,036,452 for fiscal year 2023; and - (5) [was (9)(7)] $126,038,274 for fiscal year 2024. ## Sec. 4 Conforming amendments - (a) Section 4 of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 12003) is amended— - (1) in the section heading, by striking “wind, photovoltaics, and solar thermal” and inserting “photovoltaics, solar thermal, and other technology”; - (2) [was (2)(2)] in subsection (a)— - (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “wind, photovoltaics, and solar thermal energy” and inserting “photovoltaics, solar thermal, and other energy technology”; - (B) [was (2)(2)(2)] by striking paragraph (1); and - (C) [was (2)(2)(3)] by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively; and - (3) [was (2)(3)] in subsection (c), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “the Wind Energy Research Program,”. - (b) Section 931(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231(a)(2)) is amended— - (1) by striking subparagraph (B); and - (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through (E) as subparagraphs (B) through (D), respectively. - (c) Section 636 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17215) is amended by striking “section 931(a)(2)(E)(i)” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “subparagraph (D)(i) of section 931(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231(a)(2)).”.