The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office plans to release a funding opportunity that will create one or more university-led Centers of Excellence to increase offshore wind expertise at U.S. universities; develop partnerships to address key offshore wind development challenges; and educate the next generation of offshore wind experts in the United States.

The Centers of Excellence will catalyze innovative research, educational programming, and stakeholder engagement to address regional and technological challenges within the U.S. offshore wind sector. The Centers will strive to establish strong cross-sector partnerships to identify and conduct critical, multi-disciplinary research that can address key offshore wind energy technology and deployment challenges. All of these activities intend to help meet the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.

In addition to pursuing interdisciplinary research, these university-led Centers of Excellence will help develop the next generation of leaders by providing undergraduate and graduate students in relevant fields direct experience addressing key offshore wind challenges that will prepare them for careers in the sector. A strong domestic workforce will help accelerate offshore wind development, deployment, and operation in the United States.

This funding opportunity is expected to be released in April 2023.