I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3609 

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

demonstration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 2, 2019 

Mr. TONKO (for himself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. BACON) 

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 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH, DEVELOP7 MENT AND TESTING PROGRAM. 

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

9 Act, referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out a pro10 gram to conduct research, development, testing, and evalVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:27 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3609.IH H3609

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1 uation of wind energy technologies. In carrying out such 

2 program, the Secretary shall award grants under this sec3 tion and sections 3, 4, and 5 on a competitive, merit-re4 viewed basis to eligible entities for each of the following 

5 purposes: 

6 (1) To improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 

7 resilience, security, and capacity of wind energy gen8 eration. 

9 (2) To optimize the design and control of wind 

10 energy systems for the broadest practical range of 

11 atmospheric conditions. 

12 (3) To reduce the cost and risk of permitting, 

13 construction, operation, and maintenance of wind 

14 energy systems, including technologies to reduce en15 vironmental and community impacts, improve grid 

16 integration and reduce regulatory barriers. 

17 (4) To improve materials, engineering, and 

18 manufacturing processes for turbines, including 

19 supersized turbines. 

20 (5) To optimize wind plant performance and in21 tegration within hybrid energy systems to enhance 

22 cost efficiency and electric grid stability and resil23 ience. 

24 (b) WIND ENERGY RESEARCH SUBJECT AREAS.— 

25 The program established under subsection (a) shall focus 


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1 on the research, development, testing, and evaluation of 

2 each of the following subject areas: 

3 (1) Wind power plant performance and oper4 ations including— 

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

6 interactions; 

7 (B) energy conversion potential; 

8 (C) turbine and wind plant control para9 digms; 

10 (D) turbine and wind plant security; 

11 (E) turbine components; and 

12 (F) integrated hybrid plant systems. 

13 (2) New materials and designs related to 

14 blades, rotors, towers and drivetrains including— 

15 (A) higher tip speed rotor designs; 

16 (B) low-noise rotor designs; 

17 (C) advanced drivetrain and generator con18 cepts; 

19 (D) modular construction and onsite or 

20 near-site manufacturing and assembly tech21 niques; 

22 (E) sustainable and recyclable materials 

23 and manufacturing systems; 

24 (F) supersized turbine design and installa25 tion approaches; and 


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1 (G) lightweight materials. 

2 (3) Offshore wind-specific projects including— 

3 (A) fixed and floating substructure con4 cepts; 

5 (B) projects to assess and mitigate the im6 pacts of hurricane wind flow, freshwater ice, 

7 and other United States-specific conditions; 

8 (C) innovative operations and maintenance 

9 strategies; 

10 (D) analysis of offshore meteorological, ge11 ological, and oceanographic data collection; and 

12 (E) offshore infrastructure monitoring. 

13 (4) Recycling and reuse of wind energy compo14 nents. 

15 (5) Wind power forecasting and atmospheric 

16 measurement systems, including for turbines and 

17 plant systems of varying height. 

18 (6) The distributed wind energy sector. 

19 (7) Advanced transportation mechanisms for 

20 wind turbine components. 

21 (8) Transformational technologies for har22 nessing wind energy, including airborne wind energy 

23 concepts. 

24 (9) Methods to extend the operational lifetime 

25 of onshore and offshore wind turbines and systems. 


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1 (10) Other research areas as determined by the 

2 Secretary. 

3 (c) COORDINATION.—To the maximum extent prac4 ticable, the Secretary shall coordinate activities under the 

5 program established under subsection (a) with other rel6 evant programs and capabilities of the Department of En7 ergy and other Federal research programs. 

8 (d) CONFORMING REPEALS.— 

9 (1) Section 931(a)(2) of the Energy Policy Act 

10 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231(a)(2)) is amended by 

11 striking subparagraph (B). 

12 (2) Section 4(a) of the Renewable Energy and 

13 Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act 

14 of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 12003(a)) is amended by strik15 ing paragraph (1). 

16 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means any of the 

18 following entities: 

19 (A) An institution of higher education. 

20 (B) A National Laboratory. 

21 (C) A Federal research agency. 

22 (D) A State research agency. 

23 (E) A nonprofit research organization. 

24 (F) An industrial entity or a multi-institu25 tional consortium thereof. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

3 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1001). 

5 (3) The term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ has the 

6 meaning given such term in section 2(3) of the En7 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801(3)). 

8 (4) The term ‘‘supersized turbine’’ means a 12 

9 megawatt or greater wind turbine, typically with a 

10 tower height greater than 140 meters and blades 

11 greater than 75 meters. 

12 SEC. 3. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY VALIDATION AND 

13 MARKET TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program es15 tablished under section 2(a), the Secretary shall conduct 

16 a wind energy technology validation and market trans17 formation program under which the Secretary shall award 

18 grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible 

19 entities to support activities that demonstrate and validate 

20 new wind energy technologies with the potential to be cost21 competitive for land-based, offshore, and distributed appli22 cations. 

23 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 

24 under this section shall submit an application in such form 


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1 and manner as the Secretary may prescribe and that con2 tains— 

3 (1) a certification that any demonstration 

4 project carried out using grant funds are— 

5 (A) conducted in collaboration with indus6 try and, as appropriate, with institutions of 

7 higher education and other Federal research 

8 programs; and 

9 (B) of sufficient size and geographic diver10 sity to measure wind energy system perform11 ance under the full productive range of wind 

12 conditions in the United States; and 

13 (2) such other information as the Secretary 

14 may require. 

15 (c) FACILITY FOR HYBRID ENERGY SYSTEM RE16 SEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—In carrying 

17 out the program established under subsection (a), the Sec18 retary shall establish or support a facility to conduct re19 search and demonstration projects for wind turbines and 

20 plants in hybrid energy systems that incorporate diverse 

21 generation sources, loads, and storage technologies. 

22 SEC. 4. WIND ENERGY INCUBATOR FUNDING. 

23 In carrying out the program established under section 

24 2(a), the Secretary shall award grants on a competitive, 

25 merit-reviewed basis to eligible entities to support innovaVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:27 Jul 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3609.IH H3609

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1 tive technologies that are not represented in a significant 

2 way in— 

3 (1) the portfolio of wind energy research activi4 ties carried out by the Department of Energy as of 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act; or 

6 (2) technology roadmaps used by the Depart7 ment of Energy as of such date of enactment. 

8 SEC. 5. MITIGATING REGULATORY AND MARKET BARRIERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program es10 tablished under section 2(a), the Secretary shall award 

11 grants on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis to eligible 

12 entities to research, develop, test, and evaluate ways to 

13 reduce regulatory and market barriers to the widespread 

14 adoption of wind power, including— 

15 (1) grid transmission and integration chal16 lenges; and 

17 (2) permitting issues associated with the poten18 tial impacts of wind power systems on wildlife, radar 

19 systems, local communities, military operations, and 

20 airspace. 

21 (b) WILDLIFE IMPACT MITIGATION.—In carrying out 

22 the activities described in subsection (a), the Secretary 

23 shall support the development, testing, and evaluation of 

24 wildlife impact mitigation technologies or strategies to re25 duce the potential impacts of wind energy facilities on— 


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1 (1) bald and golden eagles; 

2 (2) bat species; 

3 (3) marine wildlife; and 

4 (4) other impacted species. 

5 (c) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.—In carrying out 

6 the activities described in subsection (a), the Secretary 

7 shall support education and outreach activities to dissemi8 nate information and promote public understanding of 

9 wind technologies and the wind energy workforce, includ10 ing the Collegiate Wind Competition. 

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec13 retary to carry out this Act— 

14 (1) $103,692,000 for fiscal year 2020; 

15 (2) $108,876,600 for fiscal year 2021; 

16 (3) $114,320,430 for fiscal year 2022; 

17 (4) $120,036,452 for fiscal year 2023; and 

18 (5) $126,038,274 for fiscal year 2024. 

Æ 


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