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Union Calendar No. 136 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3165 

[Report No. 111–248] 

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

demonstration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2009 

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

on Science and Technology 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LUJA ́N, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. INSLEE, 

Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. CHANDLER, Ms. GIFFORDS, and Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 9, 2009] 


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A BILL 

To provide for a program of wind energy research, 

development, and demonstration, and for other purposes. 


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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 2009’’. 

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— 

10 (1) improve the energy efficiency, reliability, and 

11 capacity of wind turbines; 

12 (2) optimize the design and adaptability of wind 

13 energy systems to the broadest practical range of at14 mospheric conditions; and 

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

16 and maintenance of wind energy systems. 

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

18 focus on research and development of— 

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

20 lighter, less expensive, and more reliable rotor blades; 

21 (2) technologies to improve gearbox performance 

22 and reliability; 

23 (3) automation, materials, and assembly of 

24 large-scale components to reduce manufacturing 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 into 

14 the existing electric grid to ensure reliability; 

15 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 generators; 

23 (B) direct-drive technology; and 

24 (C) the use of advanced magnets in gener25 ator rotors; 


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1 (8) wind technology for offshore applications; 

2 (9) methods to assess and mitigate the effects of 

3 wind energy systems on radar and electromagnetic 

4 fields; 

5 (10) wind turbines with a maximum electric 

6 power production capacity of 100 kilowatts or less; 

7 (11) technical processes to enable— 

8 (A) scalability of transmission from re9 motely located renewable resource rich areas; and 

10 (B) optimization of advanced infrastructure 

11 design, including high voltage transmission; and 

12 (12) other research areas as determined by the 

13 Secretary. 

14 SEC. 3. WIND ENERGY DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall con16 duct a wind energy demonstration program. In carrying 

17 out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that— 

18 (1) the program is of sufficient size and geo19 graphic diversity to measure wind energy system per20 formance under the full productive range of wind con21 ditions in the United States; 

22 (2) demonstration projects carried out under this 

23 program are— 


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1 (A) conducted in collaboration with indus2 try and, as appropriate, with academic institu3 tions; and 

4 (B) located in various geographic areas rep5 resenting various wind class regimes; and 

6 (3) data collected from demonstration projects 

7 carried out under this program is useful for carrying 

8 out section 2(b). 

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

10 program under this section in compliance with section 

11 988(a) through (d) and section 989 of the Energy Policy 

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

13 SEC. 4. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY. 

14 In carrying out this Act, the Secretary of Energy 

15 shall— 

16 (1) coordinate with the Office of Minority Eco17 nomic Impact and with the Office of Small and Dis18 advantaged Business Utilization; and 

19 (2) provide special consideration to applications 

20 submitted by institutions, businesses, or entities con21 taining majority representation by individuals iden22 tified in section 33 or 34 of the Science and Engi23 neering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a or 

24 1885b). 


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1 SEC. 5. COMPETITIVE AWARDS. 

2 Awards under section 2 and section 3 shall be made 

3 on a competitive basis with an emphasis on technical merit. 

4 SEC. 6. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

5 To the maximum extent practicable the Secretary of 

6 Energy shall coordinate activities under this Act with other 

7 programs of the Department of Energy and other Federal 

8 research programs. 

9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec11 retary of Energy to carry out this Act $200,000,000 for each 

12 of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 


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Union Calendar No. 136 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3165 

[Report No. 111–248] 

A BILL 

To provide for a program of wind energy research, 

purposes. development, and demonstration, and for other 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


pwalker on DSK8KYBLC1PROD with BILLS