The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
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A large inland or offshore wind farm could incorporate 100,000 or more bolted joints in wind turbines that must stay tightened to the correct preload. But as wind turbine sizes become larger and require bigger bolts, bolted joints are becoming more difficult to install and maintain. Traditional methods to ensure they are tightened to the correct preload, such as using torque wrenches, are time-consuming and prone to inaccuracies. This is especially challenging for a wind farm’s maintenance team, usually staffed with only five or six workers, that must perform continual checks on the bolted joints of every turbine.
Cutting-edge advancements, …
View Full ResourceDNV has been producing Energy Production Assessments (EPAs) of proposed wind farms for over 35 years and has developed a well-defined methodology that is continually updated as new research and information becomes available. Validations serve a dual purpose: they provide DNV with a feedback loop used to direct methodology improvements and provide the industry with valuable insights into the levels of accuracy achieved by DNV’s current best practice.
The results show a slight negative bias in the prediction of P50 energy output and show some spread in project performance relative to the pre-construction prediction. Overall, the risk of projects underperforming …
View Full ResourceMultiple technological, social, and market factors of wind power are evolving rapidly. Most notably, significant wind turbine scaling is occurring and is forecasted to continue. While the larger turbines expected to be deployed in the future are more powerful and efficient, they are also expected to operate at higher sound levels and require larger setbacks than those installed in the last decade. These sometimes-competing deployment trends and impacts cannot be understood via simple extrapolations of past trends. This study analyzes the effect of these future larger turbines on wind turbine micro-siting, project-level power and energy density, and community noise impacts. …
View Full ResourceJapan faces a significant energy security risk as it imports nearly all of the fuel used in its power sector, with clean electricity accounting for only 24% of the total. This study shows that, due to the decreasing costs of solar, wind (especially offshore), and battery technology, Japan can achieve a 90% clean electricity share by 2035. This would also result in a 6% reduction in electricity costs, nearly eliminate dependence on imported LNG and coal, as well as dramatically reduce power sector emissions. Additionally, the study finds that Japan’s power grid will remain dependable without the need for new …
View Full ResourceOffshore wind is experiencing a decade of progress. But with space at a premium and many offshore areas proving too deep for bottom-fixed turbines, the attractiveness of floating wind is growing and looks set to take a sizable piece of the overall offshore wind pie. DNV’s Energy Transition Outlook forecasts that by 2050, 15% of all offshore wind installed capacity will come from floating offshore wind. This means that approximately 300 GW of floating offshore wind will be installed globally in the next 30 years, requiring around 20,000 turbines, each mounted on top of floating units weighing more than 5,000 …
View Full ResourceThis report first lays out the urgent case for proactively and holistically planning transmission solutions for the nation’s increasingly ambitious offshore wind goals. Section II reviews existing studies that document the benefits of proactive planning and quantifies the economic, environmental, and reliability benefits offered by carefully planned offshore wind transmission solutions. Section III summarizes barriers that currently prevent the realization of these benefits. Section IV recommends specific steps that states, grid operators, the federal administration and key federal agencies, and industry stakeholders need to take to create a pathway for no-regrets grid solutions that allows achieving near- and long-term offshore …
View Full ResourceThis Insights Briefing focuses on one of the most pressing execution challenges to the rapid scale-up of clean electrification – slow planning, permitting, and land acquisition. While this set of challenges affects multiple clean energy technologies, the focus in this report will be on utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) (e.g., ~1 MW or above in size) and onshore and offshore wind, as the critical “backbone” zero-carbon generation technologies. After providing context on renewables deployment trends and current challenges, this Insights Briefing will develop an in-depth assessment of major planning and permitting barriers across project stages. It will then provide an overview …
View Full ResourceTo inform the DOE team’s supply chain review, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) conducted research and analyses that characterize supply chain strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within the wind industry, including both land-based and offshore wind.The team also conducted interviews with industry stakeholders and subject matter experts. This report documents these findings and provides a foundation for addressing the observed vulnerabilities and enhancing U.S. wind supply chain competitiveness.
Research into the U.S. wind supply chain reveals several vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities manifest differently for offshore and land-based wind given their current domestic supply chain status(i.e., absent or nascent …
View Full ResourceFloating offshore wind farms should be the next big thing in the wind industry. But catalyzing greater private investment and reducing costs will require large-scale demonstration to increase confidence from investors that the technology works as intended.
A floating wind farm is exactly what it sounds like—an array of wind turbines on floating platforms instead of fixed foundations rooted to the seabed. Each floating platform is tethered to the seabed with mooring lines and anchors that prevent it from drifting off. Floating wind turbines are important because they can be installed in deep waters where much of the world’s wind …
View Full ResourceTransforming the energy sector requires a shift towards renewable energy sources. The world’s oceans are a source of abundant renewable energy, which can be tapped through offshore wind (with fixed and floating foundations, or airborne), floating solar photovoltaics (PV) and other emerging ocean energy technologies.
The G20 Italian presidency of 2021, acknowledging the importance of offshore renewables in the energy transition, commissioned IRENA to analyze and develop a proposed action agenda to foster offshore renewables deployment globally. Offshore renewables include offshore wind, ocean wave, tidal, thermal and salinity gradient technologies and floating solar PV.
To put the world on a …
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