The Department of Energy announced Friday that New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will run an $18.5 million offshore wind research and development consortium to help develop ways to install wind turbines off the U.S. coasts.
“There is enormous potential for offshore wind in the United States,” said Timothy Unruh, the agency’s assistant secretary for renewable power. “Through this consortium, DOE seeks to support fundamental research to accelerate the development of affordable offshore wind technologies.”
The consortium is called a “cooperative innovation hub,” which will bring together industry, academia, government, and others to advance offshore wind plant technologies and try to reduce the cost of the power source.
The New York research organization houses the NY Green Bank, which is part of an alliance of states pushing back against President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change deal.
The New York green bank is leading an effort to encourage other states to fund green technologies to reduce U.S. carbon emissions in line with the 2015 Paris climate accord. The initiative was announced by the alliance and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on June 1 to mark the anniversary of Trump’s decision to exit the Paris accord.
Cuomo is one of the co-chairmen of the climate state alliance, with California Gov. Jerry Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
At the same time, Cuomo supports nuclear power plants and has been subject to lawsuits challenging his use of zero-emission credits that benefit the plants. Trump recently ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to save financially struggling U.S. coal and nuclear plants, which may call on grid operators to provide market-based incentives to the plants.
Perry says he supports taking action to help clean energy resources through an all-of-the-above strategy that includes offshore wind, as well as clean coal and nuclear.
