Underutilized Technology (UT) applications, including wind projects, have been backlogged for most of the states due to the overwhelming increase in REAP applications and USDA’s limited staff for reviews. The review staff has been prioritizing applications for grant requests under $20,000. DWEA has been urging USDA to clear the wind projects bottleneck for several months now and we were recently told that USDA is now prioritizing the UT applications. HQ has reportedly asked state RD offices to also prioritize UT applications. No timeframe for clearing the pipeline of applications was provided.
While USDA upper management has the final say, the direct management of the REAP program says they have no plans to transfer unspent FY23 and FY24 UT funds into the larger REAP funding pot. This is a critical issue for the DW industry because most of the UT appropriations were in the first two years and our industry needs time to create sales and deal flow. Note per the IRA language, UT funds that are not utilized at the end of the fiscal year are required to revert to the general pool of REAP program funds. There is no desire to transfer funds to the general REAP funding pool prior to the mandatory deadline. Each year through 2027 approximately $31.8 million is additionally made available for underutilized technology.
USDA hasn’t committed to quarterly application deadlines beyond September 30 but say that UT applications are now likely to be reviewed as received and they strongly encourage the DW industry to submit as many applications as possible in the coming months. The industry needs to demonstrate a positive deployment trend and USDA hopes to lock in as much UT funding as possible. So, please redouble your efforts to get REAP applications submitted by the end of next month.
The DWEA Board will hold an in-person mini lobby day in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13 (click here to register), and we intend to meet with legislators who can help the DW industry on REAP, Underutilized Technologies reserve funding, and the Farm Bill. The UT fund was established in the IRA legislation but is NOT yet part of enduring federal policy. We need that done in the Farm Bill.
Through the U.S. Department of Energy Wind Energy Technologies Office-funded Distributed Wind Aeroelastic Modeling (dWAM) project, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Labs researchers have been working to provide the distributed wind energy industry with better tools to model, validate, and certify improved wind turbine designs.
NREL and Sandia National Laboratories researchers have been working to advance aeroelastic modeling tools to serve the needs of the distributed wind industry. In this webinar, the research team will update the modeling community on new OpenFAST code for passive yaw archetypes, automated tools to help avoid harmful dynamics, new VAWT modeling code to help move turbines to certification, and guidance on setting up simulations to allow for reliable, competitive distributed wind turbines.
To learn more, DWEA members should register here to attend the dWAM Webinar: New Tools and Capabilities in Distributed Wind Aeroelastic Modeling on Sept. 26 at 3 p.m. ET.
DWEA’s AgWind initiative, jointly funded by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and USDA, is making strides in highlighting distributed wind (DW) for rural and disadvantaged communities. AgWind’s focus on economic benefits for Justice40 and agricultural markets aims to empower these communities by reducing up-front barriers and streamlining project financing. Upcoming efforts will further expand AgWind’s reach and impact.
With funding through a HeroX Phase 1 prize, AgWind hosted a successful community workshop in June at the San Patricio Fairgrounds in Sinton, Texas. This event, in collaboration with USDA’s Rural Development Office and Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI), provided vital information on USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and introduced the innovative AgWind Feasibility Assessment Tool.
The AgWind Tool, which offers no-cost site screenings and feasibility analyses for 16 certified DW turbine models, was demonstrated live in person at the Texas event and via Zoom to invited DWEA manufacturers, showcasing its ability to help landowners assess the wind energy potential of their properties. One attendee even committed to purchasing and installing a turbine! Since launched in June 2024, 17 users have generated more than 340 assessments to test the AgWind Tool. A video documenting AgWind’s first event and outreach to support DWEA’s application for Phase 2 HeroX funding is posted here.
Looking ahead, the AgWind team is planning several key events to continue this momentum. On Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. CT, we will hold an AgWind Tool Demo for all DWEA members and allies. Interested participants can register for this event to participate live or watch the recording to learn more about the Tool’s capabilities and how it can support planning wind energy projects.
DWEA is honored to be expanding AgWind efforts in Oklahoma with funding from a USDA technical assistance grant (TAG). AgWind’s REAP TAG team will hold upcoming monthly office hours – every third Friday beginning Sept 20 – focusing on informing rural Oklahoma residents about USDA REAP benefits, assisting with the AgWind Tool and application processes to help qualify for incentives to subsidize the cost of wind turbines.
DWEA on Aug. 22 filed a motion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in support of a protest by Red Lake County Community Hybrid, LLC of Minnesota regarding the use by Midcontinent Independent System Operation, Inc. (MISO) of one pro forma Generator Interconnection Agreement (GIA) that contains a tariff applying to both large and small generators. Red Lake is a wind/solar/battery project led by DWEA member Hybrid Renewables. “DWEA is deeply concerned that the terms of MISO’s pro forma GIA will make it uneconomical for small generators to interconnect and be placed in service in the MISO territory, thereby harming several DWEA members who operate in MISO’s territory,” DWEA wrote in its motion. DWEA said it is essential that MISO’s pro forma GIA “differentiates between the interconnection requirements for small and large generators to remove undue disincentives to small generator development.” DWEA’s motion requests FERC use its authority under the Federal Power Act to require MISO’s pro forma GIA to differentiate between large and small generators. For a copy of the motion, contact DWEA President Mike Bergey at mbergey@bergey.com.
DWEA leadership recently completed two deliverables (reports) to NREL that close out a small standards support contract to DWEA that began with the launch of the revision of AWEA 9.1-2009 in 2020. Standards are quite impactful to the distributed wind industry. These reports – “Industry Assessment of Next Steps Deliverable 6.6” (Aug. 13) and “DW Opportunities with the International Building Code Deliverable 6.5” (Aug. 30) as part of the Technical Support for Small and Medium Wind Turbine Standards and Requirements (NREL Subcontract No. SUB-2020-10116) – show how DWEA and a number of its members are active in assessing and addressing soft cost barriers, both domestically and internationally.
On the issue of pursuing a distributed wind section in the 2027 International Building Code, as proposed in Deliverable 6.5, DWEA is pleased to report that NREL has expressed a possible interest in supporting such an effort. Contact DWEA Executive Director Heather Rhoads at heather@distributedwind.org for copies of the reports and to submit your comments.
The massive budget deal Senate leaders unveiled overnight would reinstate a variety of energy tax extenders for last year and modify credits for nuclear energy and carbon capture projects.
The bill includes a variety of “orphaned” tax extenders that were left out of a 2015 deal to phase out the wind and solar tax credits. The bill allows biomass, geothermal, waste-to-energy and qualified hydro projects to claim the production tax credit for 2017. For technologies including fiber-optic solar, qualified fuel cells and small wind projects that claim the investment tax credit, it will be phased out through 2022, on the same schedule as other solar projects.
The bill also reinstates for 2017 several other tax credits to promote energy efficiency investments and biofuel production, among other technologies.
Nuclear proponents scored a win with a section of the bill that eliminates a 2020 deadline to claim a tax credit for new nuclear power plants. The Vogtle reactors, the only ones under construction in the country, are not expected to be online by then.
The bill also includes language expanding a tax credit for carbon capture and sequestration and enhanced oil recovery that had been sought by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
