IB 
Union Calendar No. 398 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3609 
[Report No. 116–497] 
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 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 
Additional sponsors: Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mrs. 
AXNE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. 
MCADAMS 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 
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 2, 2019] 
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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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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wind Energy Research 
and Development Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. WIND ENERGY TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH, DEVELOP-
MENT AND TESTING PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (in this 
Act, referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out a pro-
gram to conduct research, development, testing, and evalua-
tion of wind energy technologies. In carrying out such pro-
gram and in accordance with subsection (b), the Secretary 
shall award grants and enter into contracts and cooperative 
agreements under this section and sections 3, 4, and 5 for 
each of the following purposes: 
(1) To improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 
resilience, security, and capacity of wind energy gen-
eration. 
(2) To optimize the design and control of wind 
energy systems for the broadest practical range of at-
mospheric conditions. 
(3) To reduce the cost and risk of permitting, 
construction, operation, and maintenance of wind en-
ergy systems, including technologies to reduce envi-
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ronmental and community impacts, improve grid in-
tegration, and reduce regulatory barriers. 
(4) To improve materials, engineering, and man-
ufacturing processes for turbines, including supersized 
turbines. 
(5) To optimize wind plant performance and in-
tegration within hybrid energy systems to enhance 
cost efficiency and electric grid stability and resil-
ience. 
(b) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE AGREE-
MENTS.— 
(1) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 
Secretary shall award grants on a competitive, merit- 
reviewed basis to eligible entities for projects that the 
Secretary determines would best achieve the goals of 
the program. 
(2) CONTRACTS
AND
COOPERATIVE
AGREE-
MENTS.—In carrying out the program, the Secretary 
may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements 
with eligible entities and Federal agencies for projects 
that the Secretary determines would further the pur-
poses of the program. 
(3) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking funding or 
a contract or agreement under this subsection shall 
submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 
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in such manner, and containing such information as 
the Secretary may require. 
(c) WIND ENERGY RESEARCH SUBJECT AREAS.—The 
program established under subsection (a) shall focus on the 
research, development, testing, and evaluation of each of the 
following subject areas: 
(1) Wind power plant performance and oper-
ations including— 
(A) wind flows and turbine-to-turbine inter-
actions; 
(B) energy conversion potential; 
(C) turbine and wind plant control para-
digms; 
(D) turbine and wind plant security; 
(E) turbine components; and 
(F) integrated hybrid plant systems. 
(2) New materials and designs related to blades, 
rotors, towers and drivetrains including— 
(A) higher tip speed rotor designs; 
(B) low noise rotor designs; 
(C) advanced drivetrain and generator con-
cepts; 
(D) modular construction and onsite or 
near-site manufacturing and assembly tech-
niques; 
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(E) sustainable and recyclable materials 
and manufacturing systems; 
(F) supersized turbine design and installa-
tion approaches; and 
(G) lightweight materials. 
(3) Offshore wind-specific projects including— 
(A) fixed and floating substructure concepts; 
(B) projects to assess and mitigate the im-
pacts of hurricane wind flow, freshwater ice, and 
other United States-specific conditions; 
(C) innovative operations and maintenance 
strategies; 
(D) analysis of offshore meteorological, geo-
logical, and oceanographic data collection; 
(E) offshore infrastructure monitoring; and 
(F) analysis of corrosion and fatigue for the 
purpose of extending the design life of offshore 
wind turbine substructures. 
(4) Recycling and reuse of wind energy compo-
nents. 
(5) Wind power forecasting and atmospheric 
measurement systems, including for turbines and 
plant systems of varying height. 
(6) Distributed wind-specific projects, includ-
ing— 
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