IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3165 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 and Development Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. WIND ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PRO5 GRAM. 

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

7 carry out a program of research and development to— 

8 (1) improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 

9 and capacity of wind turbines; 

10 (2) optimize the design and adaptability of wind 

11 energy systems to the broadest practical range of at12 mospheric conditions; and 

13 (3) reduce the cost of construction, generation, 

14 and maintenance of wind energy systems. 

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

16 focus on research and development of— 

17 (1) new materials and designs to make larger, 

18 lighter, less expensive, and more reliable rotor 

19 blades; 

20 (2) technologies to improve gearbox perform21 ance and reliability; 

22 (3) automation, materials, and assembly of 

23 large-scale components to reduce manufacturing 

24 costs; 


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1 (4) low-cost transportable towers greater than 

2 100 meters in height to capitalize on improved wind 

3 conditions at higher elevations; 

4 (5) advanced computational modeling tools to 

5 improve— 

6 (A) the reliability of aeroelastic simulations 

7 of wind energy systems; 

8 (B) understanding of the interaction be9 tween each wind turbine component; 

10 (C) siting of wind energy systems to maxi11 mize efficiency and minimize variable genera12 tion; 

13 (D) integration of wind energy systems 

14 into the existing electric grid to ensure reli15 ability; and 

16 (E) understanding of the wake effect be17 tween upwind and downwind turbine operations; 

18 (6) advanced control systems and blade sensors 

19 to improve performance and reliability under a wide 

20 variety of wind conditions; 

21 (7) advanced generators, including— 

22 (A) medium-speed and low-speed genera23 tors; 

24 (B) direct-drive technology; and 


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1 (C) the use of advanced magnets in gener2 ator rotors; 

3 (8) wind technology for offshore applications; 

4 (9) methods to assess and mitigate the effects 

5 of wind energy systems on radar and electro6 magnetic fields; 

7 (10) wind turbines with a maximum electric 

8 power production capacity of 100 kilowatts or less; 

9 (11) technical processes to enable— 

10 (A) scalability of transmission from re11 motely located renewable resource rich areas; 

12 and 

13 (B) optimization of advanced infrastruc14 ture design, including high voltage trans15 mission; and 

16 (12) other research areas as determined by the 

17 Secretary. 

18 SEC. 3. WIND ENERGY DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

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

20 conduct a wind energy demonstration program. In car21 rying out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that— 

22 (1) the program is of sufficient size and geo23 graphic diversity to measure wind energy system 

24 performance under the full productive range of wind 

25 conditions in the United States; 


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1 (2) demonstration projects carried out under 

2 this program are— 

3 (A) conducted in collaboration with indus4 try and, as appropriate, with academic institu5 tions; and 

6 (B) located in various geographic areas 

7 representing various wind class regimes; and 

8 (3) data collected from demonstration projects 

9 carried out under this program is useful for carrying 

10 out section 2(b). 

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

12 the program under this section in compliance with section 

13 988(a) through (d) and section 989 of the Energy Policy 

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

15 SEC. 4. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY. 

16 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary of Energy 

17 shall— 

18 (1) coordinate with the Office of Minority Eco19 nomic Impact and with the Office of Small and Dis20 advantaged Business Utilization; and 

21 (2) provide special consideration to applications 

22 submitted by institutions, businesses, or entities con23 taining majority representation by individuals identi24 fied in section 33 or 34 of the Science and EngineerVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:44 Sep 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3165.RFS H3165

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1 ing Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 

2 1885b). 

3 SEC. 5. COMPETITIVE AWARDS. 

4 Awards under section 2 and section 3 shall be made 

5 on a competitive basis with an emphasis on technical 

6 merit. 

7 SEC. 6. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

8 To the maximum extent practicable the Secretary of 

9 Energy shall coordinate activities under this Act with 

10 other programs of the Department of Energy and other 

11 Federal research programs. 

12 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary of Energy to carry out this Act $200,000,000 for 

15 each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 9, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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