This solicitation focuses on advancing the design of floating offshore wind mooring lines and anchors to address the site-specific needs of California’s Wind Energy Areas.
Donor Name: California Energy Commission
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/13/2022
Size of the Grant: $4,000,000
Details:
The purpose of this solicitation is to fund applied research and development projects that support the 2021 Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) Interim Investment Plan initiatives 8a. “Manufacturing and Testing of Floating Offshore Wind (FOSW) Components” and 8c. “Environmental Research for FOSW Development.” Projects resulting from this solicitation will advance the designs of FOSW mooring lines, anchors, or both to withstand the environmental conditions of California’s Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) and optimize costs by developing efficient designs.
This solicitation supports applied research and development of earlier stage FOSW component designs that address the needs of California’s WEAs. This solicitation complements and may build upon knowledge gained from FOSW research and development projects funded by the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (NOWRDC), such as the development of low-cost, scalable anchors and optimization of mooring system components using software for deep-water U.S. site conditions, including the Pacific Coast and Hawaii.
Projects resulting from this solicitation will optimize costs by developing efficient designs and will reduce the risk of impacts to wildlife and their habitats. Investments in these strategic designs will result in shared knowledge of optimal designs and configurations that could be applied, as appropriate, to various floating offshore wind installations.
Project Focus
Projects from this solicitation will develop one of the following technology options and address the relevancy to the Humboldt and/or Morro Bay WEA(s):
- Design and test mooring line materials to withstand the conditions of the selected WEA(s),
- Design and test anchors for WEA(s) seismic activity and seabed and oceanic conditions, or
- Design and test shared mooring lines and anchor configurations to reduce costs and environmental impacts.
Project teams will be expected to have demonstrated expertise necessary to accomplish the above objectives. Applicants are encouraged to seek input from, or partner with, offshore wind developers to help ensure commercial feasibility of the innovation(s). Testing done under this solicitation must result in component validation in laboratory environments. Proposed project activities may not be tested in state waters or federal WEAs.
Funding Information
There is up to $7,700,000 available for grants awarded under this solicitation. The minimum funding amount for each project is $2,000,000. The maximum funding amount is $4,000,000.
Eligibility Criteria
This solicitation is open to all public and private entities with the exception of local publicly owned electric utilities. In accordance with CPUC Decision 12-05-037, funds administered by the CEC may not be used for any purposes associated with local publicly owned electric utility activities.
For more information, visit CEC.
