The US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP), DOE’s program to reduce costs and improve technology for small and medium-sized wind turbines less than 1MW in capacity.
Managed by NREL on behalf of DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, CIP awards cost-shared subcontracts and technical support to make distributed wind energy technologies more cost competitive and reliable. The 2022 RFP includes a new topic area that invites manufacturers to propose solutions focused on developing markets for new products or new markets for existing products. The 2022 RFP focuses on projects that:
- Develop new, innovative distributed wind energy concepts,
- Transform and optimise existing designs for lower cost, increased energy production, or expanded capabilities, such as advanced grid support to enhance power system resiliency
- Conduct wind turbine and component testing to national standards to verify performance and safety
- Create advanced manufacturing processes to reduce hardware costs,
- Accelerate pathways to commercialisation.
The RFP includes cost-share requirements, and proposals must provide evidence of technical readiness, incorporation in the United States, strong team skills and capabilities, and financial information. Work funded under this effort is expected to take place in the United States and/or U.S. Territories, unless otherwise justified. Applications will be accepted through April 1, 2022.