20% Wind Energy by 2030 Roadmap Workshop, October 6-7, Arlington, VA
October 08, 2008
On October 6-7, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program hosted a workshop focused on achieving 20% of the nation’s electricity from wind by 2030. The workshop, held in Arlington, VA, brought together participants from industry, government, nonprofit organizations,and other stakeholder groups to develop a National Wind Energy Roadmap for boosting U.S. wind power generation capacity to 300 gigawatts.
Using the DOE’s recent report 20% Wind Energy by 2030 as a starting point, the National Wind Energy Roadmap will assist DOE planning and decision-making in support of a major scale-up of domestic wind energy resources. The Roadmap will address the most significant barriers to deployment and the strategies to overcome them, and will identify strategies to build a sustainable industry with broad stakeholder involvement. It will prioritize research and development needs, establish timeframes, and consider the respective roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders to support the achievement of 20% wind energy.
The National Wind Energy Roadmap will be developed over the coming months using the stakeholder input gathered at the workshop. It will also incorporate the results of the U.S. Wind Manufacturing Workshop, held August 27-28, 2008, which identified specific priorities for the manufacturing sector.
John Mizroch, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, welcomed participants to the plenary session, which also included presentations from Megan McCluer, Program Manager of the DOE Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program, and Jim Walker, President of the Board of Directors of the American Wind Energy Association. After the plenary session, participants divided into six breakout groups for more in-depth discussion on specific topics: Land-Based Large Wind Turbine Technologies; Distributed Wind Technologies; Grid System Interconnection; Environmental Risks and Siting Strategies; Market Development and Public Policies; and Offshore Wind Technologies and Siting Strategies.
