In a study off the West Coast, researchers find that although seabirds generally soar underneath the height of possible future wind turbine blades, more work is being done to fully understand seabird flight behavior.
Researchers seek to bring down costs, address potential environmental risks and maximize the benefits of harnessing wind energy above the deep waters of the Pacific.
Two renewable energy approaches—enhanced geothermal systems and floating offshore wind energy—get new focus as Energy Earthshot™ Research Centers at PNNL.
Recognizing how innovation and clean technologies at the very edge of the grid can work together to transition the electricity system, PNNL takes a multidisciplinary approach to advancing and integrating renewable energy solutions.
Two PNNL studies that describe the potential value of offshore wind off the Oregon Coast and distributed wind in Alaska were published in the journal Energies.
PNNL has paired one of its offshore wind research buoys with its ThermalTracker-3D technology to correlate avian activity with ocean and weather conditions off the California coast.
A special issue of the Marine Technology Society Journal, titled “Utilizing Offshore Resources for Renewable Energy Development,” focuses on research and development efforts including those at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
PNNL researchers say that offshore wind energy can add value to the electric grid, beyond just the power it can produce, if locations and strategies are optimized.
PNNL deployed two research buoys in waters off the West Coast for the first time in deep water, supporting a DOE and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management effort to gather measurements that support offshore wind locations and technologies.
Mama and calf humpback whales—considered a vulnerable species that might be entangled in underwater equipment—star in a new animation video that depicts the marine mammals’ scale and movements relative to floating offshore wind farms.
