A three-year project aimed at developing a set of standards for U.S. offshore wind has been launched by the Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Business Network for Offshore Wind, and the American Wind Energy Association.
As explained by the Governors’ Wind & Solar Energy Coalition, an Offshore Wind Technical Advisory Panel will guide the scope of activities for a group of new technical sub-working groups, which will develop the standards.
The standards, to be recognized by the American National Standards Institute, will allow BOEM to “adopt better requirements that reflect the latest industry best practices.”
“These standards and guidelines will form the basis for BOEM to establish transparent compliance requirements that will help industry, in turn, provide safe and reliable offshore wind facilities that serve the U.S. electric supply,” states Walt Musial, NREL principal engineer and chairman of the Offshore Wind Standards working group.
NREL is also hosting a webinar on Sept. 26 with more information.
