I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4423 

To provide for a program of wind energy research, development, and 

demonstration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2016 

Mr. TONKO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for a program of wind energy research, 

development, and demonstration, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wind Energy Research 

5 and Development Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WIND ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

9 carry out a program of research and development to— 


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1 (1) improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 

2 and capacity of wind energy generation; 

3 (2) optimize the design and adaptability of wind 

4 energy systems to the broadest practical range of at5 mospheric conditions; and 

6 (3) reduce the cost of permitting, construction, 

7 operation, and maintenance of wind energy systems. 

8 (b) PROGRAM.—The program under this section shall 

9 focus on research, development, and testing of— 

10 (1) wind power plant performance and oper11 ations including— 

12 (A) wind flows and turbine-to-turbine 

13 interactions; 

14 (B) energy conversion potential; 

15 (C) turbine control paradigms; and 

16 (D) turbine component and integrated 

17 plant systems; 

18 (2) new materials and designs to make innova19 tive wind turbine rotor and drivetrain concepts in20 cluding— 

21 (A) higher tip speed rotor designs; 

22 (B) low noise rotor designs; 

23 (C) more cost-effective rotor designs that 

24 are able to be integrated into current turbines; 


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1 (D) advanced drivetrain and generator 

2 concepts; and 

3 (E) modular construction and onsite as4 sembly techniques; 

5 (3) offshore wind-specific projects including— 

6 (A) fixed and floating substructure con7 cepts; 

8 (B) projects to assess and mitigate the im9 pacts of hurricane wind flow and other United 

10 States-specific conditions; 

11 (C) innovative operations and maintenance 

12 strategies; 

13 (D) analysis of offshore meteorological and 

14 oceanographic data collection; and 

15 (E) offshore infrastructure monitoring; 

16 (4) wind power forecasting and atmospheric 

17 measurement systems; 

18 (5) the distributed wind energy sector; 

19 (6) transformational technologies for harnessing 

20 wind energy, including airborne wind energy con21 cepts; and 

22 (7) other research areas as determined by the 

23 Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 3. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION AND 

2 MARKET TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

4 conduct a wind energy technology validation and market 

5 transformation program. In carrying out this section, the 

6 Secretary shall ensure that— 

7 (1) the program demonstrates and validates 

8 new wind energy technologies with the potential to 

9 be cost-competitive for land-based, offshore, and dis10 tributed applications; and 

11 (2) demonstration projects carried out under 

12 this program are— 

13 (A) conducted in collaboration with indus14 try and, as appropriate, with academic institu15 tions; and 

16 (B) of sufficient size and geographic diver17 sity to measure wind energy system perform18 ance under the full productive range of wind 

19 conditions in the United States. 

20 (b) COST-SHARING.—The Secretary shall carry out 

21 the program under this section in compliance with section 

22 988(a) through (d) and section 989 of the Energy Policy 

23 Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352(a) through (d) and 16353). 

24 SEC. 4. WIND ENERGY EXPANSION PROGRAM. 

25 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

26 conduct a program of research, development, demonstraVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Feb 02, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4423.IH H4423

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1 tion, and commercial application activities to reduce bar2 riers to the widespread adoption of wind power. Barriers 

3 addressed by this program may include— 

4 (1) grid integration challenges; and 

5 (2) permitting issues associated with the poten6 tial impacts of wind power systems on wildlife, radar 

7 systems, and airspace. 

8 (b) WILDLIFE IMPACT MITIGATION.—The program 

9 described in this section shall support the development of 

10 new wildlife impact mitigation technologies to reduce the 

11 potential impacts of wind energy facilities on— 

12 (1) bald and golden eagles; 

13 (2) bat species; and 

14 (3) other species which may impede the wide15 spread deployment of wind power. 

16 (c) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—The program de17 scribed in this section shall support education and out18 reach activities to disseminate information and promote 

19 public understanding of wind technologies, including the 

20 Collegiate Wind Competition. 

21 SEC. 5. WIND ENERGY INCUBATOR FUNDING. 

22 The Secretary of Energy shall maintain a wind en23 ergy incubator program to support innovative technologies 

24 that are not represented in a significant way in the DeVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Feb 02, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4423.IH H4423

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1 partment of Energy’s current portfolio of wind energy re2 search activities or in current technology roadmaps. 

3 SEC. 6. COORDINATION. 

4 To the maximum extent practicable the Secretary of 

5 Energy shall coordinate activities under this Act with 

6 other relevant programs of the Department of Energy and 

7 other Federal research programs. 

8 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec10 retary of Energy to carry out this Act $200,000,000 for 

11 each of the fiscal years 2017 through 2021. 

Æ 


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