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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the White House have made offshore wind a centerpiece of plans to strengthen the nation’s energy infrastructure, announcing a goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 — a huge leap from the 42 megawatts (MW) currently in operation. Not only could this provide enough electricity to power 10 million American homes and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 78 million metric tons, it could also support as many as 77,000 new jobs.

The success of this initiative will rely, in large part, on partnerships to accelerate research and development (R&D) and establish new offshore systems in such an ambitious time frame. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is certain to be at the center of many of these efforts, contributing expertise in research related to offshore wind as well as building coalitions.

NREL has a long, successful track record of collaboration with partners in industry, agencies at all levels of government, and the research community. Offshore wind project partnerships have given NREL the insight needed to develop innovations that solve real-world problems and become the recognized standards for industry. For example, 80% of all prototypes for offshore wind floating platforms have been designed with the help of NREL open-source analysis tools — which NREL created through collaboration with laboratory partners.

With recent announcements of a national goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 and the go-ahead to install the first commercial-scale U.S. offshore wind project, NREL and its partners are poised to help meet this ambitious target. Semisubmersible offshore wind platforms accounted for 89% of substructures in floating wind projects either installed or announced in 2019. Other projects may use spar or tension-leg platform substructures. Graphics by Josh Bauer, NREL

NREL’s partners have helped the laboratory build a broad, in-depth understanding of the unique challenges of offshore environments. Offshore wind’s remote locations, deep waters, and extreme weather and ocean conditions present additional design, installation, and operation hurdles in the form of efficiency, cost, and durability.

Offshore wind collaborations bring together the research expertise of NREL staff with the know-how of industry partners, the policymaking perspective of government agencies, and additional support from other laboratories and universities. Researchers work with partners to characterize wind resourcesoptimize plants and turbinesanalyze techno-economic and market factors, and assess potential environmental impacts.

In particular, partners rely on NREL’s pioneering research to boost the performance and market viability of floating platform technologies needed to capture energy in the deepwater locations that account for nearly 60% of U.S. offshore wind resources. The laboratory’s researchers have most recently turned their attention to the integration of offshore wind energy with land-based utility systems to increase grid reliability, resilience, and efficiency.

Transmission of offshore wind energy relies on equipment such as undersea cables to carry power back to the mainland.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, more than $10 million in funding for NREL offshore wind research projects came from partnerships with industry. The NREL team is working with more than 45 commercial, government, and research organizations on offshore, land-based, and distributed wind research projects in 2021.

This reflects the overall success of the laboratory in cultivating partnerships. Over the last 12 years, NREL has brought in $1 billion in partnership contracts, with more than 900 active partnership agreements and close to 600 unique partners in FY 2020.

With the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind development recently cleared for installation by the U.S. Department of the Interior off the coast of Massachusetts, the NREL offshore wind team hopes to engage with new partners to grow its collaborative base and make even more meaningful contributions to this burgeoning industry in the coming years.

Giving Industry the Tools To Compete

Industry partners know they can bank on the intellectual capital of experienced NREL researchers to develop and refine breakthrough offshore wind technologies and provide the balanced, market-savvy guidance needed for successful deployment. In addition, NREL offers industry partners hands-on research collaboration, technical assistance, deployment guidance, research facility use, and technology licensing.

“Collaboration with industry is key to making sure our R&D addresses real-world issues and priorities, while helping transfer scientific knowledge from the lab to the marketplace,” said NREL Principal Engineer Jeroen van Dam. “We’re giving offshore developers the tools to establish market parity — and giving the United States resources to join the field of international players.”

Through collaborations with the primary offshore wind regulators — the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement — and in coordination with the Business Network for Offshore Wind and the American Clean Power Association trade organizations, NREL is helping lead the development of industry standards that will define the requirements for utility-scale deployment of offshore wind in the United States. The team also works with individual companies — from startups to established corporations — including system operators, developers, original equipment manufacturers, energy suppliers, and investors. Scores of U.S. companies are currently involved in building, running, or supporting supply chains related to offshore systems.

The laboratory provides a credible source for objective expertise and validated data, bolstering rather than competing with industry efforts. NREL research focuses on early-stage technologies, where industry investments tend to be lean, while also targeting R&D priorities with potential for future commercialization. This has included collaboration on tools needed for industry to eventually develop larger, more powerful turbines and optimize system performance, efficiency, reliability, and affordability.

NREL takes broader economic factors into consideration when assessing the potential impact of offshore wind research and development. Offshore wind could trigger more than $12 billion per year in U.S. capital investment in offshore wind projects and spur significant activity and growth for ports, factories, and construction.

NREL also takes bigger economic factors into consideration when assessing the potential impact of offshore wind research and development. Eventually, it is estimated that offshore wind could trigger more than $12 billion per year in U.S. capital investment and spur significant activity and growth for ports, factories, and construction operations.

NREL analysts help developers and other industry partners gain crucial, unbiased understanding of the balance among potential offshore wind costs, revenues, and risks within the broader context of technical, legal, regulatory, tax, and policy issues. NREL market reports provide the data needed to support decision-making, including information critical to building the skilled workforce necessary for industry growth.

Building Coalitions To Spur Innovation

NREL has provided ongoing leadership to forge collaborative partnerships that bring together top minds from a range of sectors to form a virtual think tank of offshore wind research experts. In this convening role, NREL acts as a catalyst for exchanging information, tackling large research projects, and providing industry and policy decision makers with the body of scientific knowledge needed to champion new approaches.

NREL’s Walt Musial and Brent Rice join partners to tour the world’s first floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Peterhead, Scotland. Photo by Brent Rice, NREL

A major component of the newly announced U.S. offshore wind initiative announced by the White House calls on the National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium (NOWRDC) to refine the technology needed for deployment at a scale previously unprecedented in this country. The NOWRDC, which is managed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) with contributions from four other states plus DOE, benefits from the technical direction of NREL Offshore Wind Platform Lead Walt Musial, as well as the laboratory’s regular representation on the NOWRDC R&D Advisory Group and leadership of several projects.

“The developers and states really set the pace,” Musial said. “They’re ultimately the ones who will be responsible for rolling out and operating new offshore systems. Our job is to arm them with the information they need to maximize clean energy production in ways that will work best to help them achieve the lowest cost for their project.”

The laboratory’s involvement in coalition efforts reaches across the country and around the globe. Many International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA Wind) research tasks, which engage academia and industry across three continents, are led by NREL research staff. This includes development of a 15-MW reference turbine in partnership with IEA Wind and DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office to help design larger, more powerful, next-generation turbines.

NREL’s global and national partnerships are helping design larger, more powerful, next-generation offshore wind technologies, such as the IEA Wind 15-MW reference turbine.

NREL has a long, successful history of partnerships with international and U.S. universities and research institutions, including other national laboratories. The laboratory’s university affiliations encompass professors collaborating on NREL projects, NREL researchers advising graduate students, and projects supported by university funding. Consortia comprising multiple institutions and larger collaborations that involve several different agencies, universities, labs, and private-sector partners bring a range of perspectives to offshore wind solutions.

Collaborative efforts helmed by other U.S. government agencies, including DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), also rely on NREL research expertise. For example, ARPA-E has funded the Aerodynamic Turbines Lighter and Afloat with Nautical Technologies and Integrated Servo-control (ATLANTIS) program to develop new floating offshore wind turbines by tightly integrating control systems and design. NREL leads three ATLANTIS projects, working with one other national laboratory, four universities, and four industry partners.

Tapping One-of-a-Kind Offshore Wind Expertise

So, why do all of these organizations choose to partner with NREL on offshore wind research projects?

Certain collaborative undertakings rely on NREL’s high-performance Eagle supercomputer and world-class Flatirons Campus research facilities to put innovative offshore wind technologies and strategies through their paces. NREL software tools make it possible for researchers and partners to build models and simulate performance based on the laboratory’s formidable collections of data.

But NREL also offers one-of-a-kind expertise from its staff of 150 wind energy scientists, engineers, and analysts, many of whom contribute their multidisciplinary knowledge to offshore projects. With numerous cumulative decades of research experience, the team is able to tap a deep base of knowledge specific to offshore wind, as well as wider-reaching input from experts in related disciplines such as land-based wind power, other areas of clean energy generation, transmission, and integration. This cross-cutting approach has recently led scientists to uncover new efficiencies for converting wind energy to hydrogen that can be readily stored and used for a range of applications.

In surveys, multiple partners have given NREL high marks for its collaborative approach, distinct technical capabilities, and strong understanding of current needs and priorities.

“If we want the nation’s ambitious vision for offshore wind to become reality, we all need to pull together,” Musial said.

“These partnerships with industry, universities, other labs, and government agencies are crucial to developing the right technology, installing it at the right locations, and connecting it to the grid so that we can maximize offshore’s contribution to the country’s affordable clean energy mix.”

Article courtesy of the NREL, the U.S. Department of Energy.


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Tesla’s top crash safety architect quits

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Tesla's top crash safety architect quits

Tesla’s top crash safety architect, who helped the automaker achieve top safety scores for its entire car line-up, announced that he is leaving the automaker after 14 years.

We are talking about Petter Winberg, Tesla’s Principal Engineer for CAE crashing safety for the last decade.

After an extensive career at Volvo and SAAB, both car brands praised for their commitment to safety, Winberg joined Tesla in 2011 to work on the “crash safety development of Model S structure and side occupant restraints.”

At the time, Tesla was still working on the Model S, its first vehicle built entirely from the ground up, considering the original Roadster was based on the Lotus Elise.

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CEO Elon Musk aimed for “Tesla vehicles to be the safest on the planet,” and Winberg took the challenge seriously.

He led the development of the vehicle body and chassis structure for Model 3 and Model Y, as well as the crash structure for Model S and Model X.

All of these vehicles have received top safety crash scores from independent testers worldwide – quickly elevating Tesla’s brand into a leader in passive safety.

Winberg and his team deserve a lot of the credit for this.

The engineer also led the design of crash readiness and the energy-absorbing capacity of Tesla’s latest “gigacasting” and structural battery pack designs, for which he obtained patents. Other automakers have since adopted similar designs.

For those less technical who want to understand how good and respected Winberg is at Tesla, he has been working for Tesla remotely in Sweden for the last five years. That’s impressive in itself, considering how much Musk hates remote work. He previously emailed Tesla management to tell them that only exceptional employees would be eligible for an exemption to work remotely, which he would approve himself.

After 14 years at Tesla, Winberg announced last week that he is leaving (via LinkedIn):

Having developed Model S, S-DM, X, 3, Y, Y-SP as well as future crash architectures, I have decided now is the time to move on. Thank you Tesla, keep crushing it! What an incredible team, I will miss you all.

He didn’t elaborate on his reasons for leaving the automaker or announce another venture.

Electrek’s Take

While Tesla has received much criticism for the dangers of its Autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” systems, I don’t think anyone can question that Tesla vehicles perform extremely well in terms of passive safety.

Independent testing has proven it time and time again.

Tesla has led the way in taking advantage of designing electric vehicles from the ground up. Its skateboard-like powertrain design and lack of engine in the front allow for a giant crumple zone to absorb the energy in case of a crash.

A big thank you to Petter Winberg for his designs and leadership in improving Tesla’s passive safety. He has undoubtedly made the automotive industry safer and saved lives. Congratulations.

As for his departure, it’s certainly a blow for Tesla. As we previously reported, the company has suffered a significant exodus of talent over the last year, with a big part of its leadership leaving during and after a wave of layoffs last year.

Many predict that Tesla could again initiate another wave of layoffs in the coming months as its sales are crumbling worldwide.

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Tesla Model S Plaid gets smoked in drag race by Xiaomi’s cheaper SU7 Ultra

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Tesla Model S Plaid gets smoked in drag race by Xiaomi's cheaper SU7 Ultra

The SU7 Ultra, Xiaomi’s new flagship electric vehicle, went against a Tesla Model S Plaid in a drag race and it smoked it.

The car is ridiculously powerful, and it’s about 35% cheaper than the Plaid, which is already affordable relative to its supercar performance.

We recently released a report about how impressed we are by Xiaomi’s incredible rise in the EV market in China.

Its first vehicle, the SU7, is a smash hit. It now consistently delivers over 20,000 units a month, it has surpassed the Tesla Model 3, its closest competitor, and has a more than 30-week-long backlog of orders.

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The vehicle achieves more range and is cheaper than Model 3 while having additional features.

Last month, Xiaomi launched a new top-of-the-line version of the SU7: the SU7 Ultra.

The headline is that the $72,800 (529,900 RMB) has a powertrain packing up 1,526 horsepower. That’s absolutely insane. Xiaomi quotes a 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) acceleration in just 1.98 seconds.

While the SU7 is meant more as a Model 3 competitor, the SU7 Ultra actually competes with Tesla’s flagship Model S Plaid in terms of performance.

They organized a drag race between the SU7 Ultra and Model S Plaid. Here it is:

As you can see, the SU7 Ultra slipped at the start, which is not surprising considering how much power it outputs, but it still managed to catch up and beat the Model S Plaid.

At over 1,000 horsepower, many, myself included, thought that it was a bit mad to offer a vehicle like the Model S Plaid with such supercar power for a relatively cheap price – RMB 814,900 (approximately $112,000 USD) in China and just $95,000 in the US.

But now, Xiaomi shakes things up even more by offering 1,500 horses for just a little more than $70,000. It’s mad.

Now, I can hear your thoughts: “but it’s just good in a straight line drag race like other EVs.” Think again, the SU7 Ultra prototype claimed the title as the fastest four-door sedan at the famous Nurburgring race track in Germany.

Electrek’s Take

Damn, the Chinese are good. Xiaomi has come hard with the SU7, but the crazy thing is that it’s just one of several Chinese top-of-the-line EVs coming out. Nio has the ET7, BYD has the U7, and there are many more.

These vehicles are all impressive in their own rights.

It’s easy to understand why American automakers are so scared and lobbied the US government for 100% tariffs on them.

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Trump administration sends a clear message to the oil and gas industry: ‘You’re the customer’

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Trump administration sends a clear message to the oil and gas industry: 'You're the customer'

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum: We're bringing back manufacturing and mining to the U.S.

HOUSTON — The officials leading President Donald Trump’s energy agenda made clear to oil, gas and mining executives this week that they have an ally in Washington who intends to make it as easy as possible for them to drill in federal lands and waters.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told executives gathered for the world’s largest energy conference that the Trump administration does not view climate change as an existential threat. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said rising global temperatures are simply a byproduct of developing the country’s national resources to support economic growth and national security.

Burgum leads Trump’s recently established National Energy Dominance Council and Wright serves as his deputy on the interagency body tasked with boosting production. Burgum was effusive in his praise of the oil and gas industry during remarks delivered at CERAWeek by S&P Global conference.

“I’m going to share two words that I do not think that you have heard from a federal official in the Biden administration during the last four years. And those two words are thank you,” said Burgum, who previously served as governor of North Dakota, a state that produces 1.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Burgum leaned on his experience as software company executive to lay out his view of the interior department’s role. The department under his leadership views the companies developing resources on federal lands as “customers” who are contributing revenue to the nation’s “balance sheet,” Burgum said.

“If someone was sending me revenue, they weren’t the enemy. They were the customer,” Burgum said. The administration loves anyone who wants to harvest timber, mine for critical minerals, graze cattle, or produce oil and gas on federals, the interior secretary said.

Royalties sent from lease agreements on federal land will help the U.S. pay down its national debt and balance the budget, Burgum said. “You’re the customer,” the interior secretary told the executives.

The value of nation’s abundant natural resources far outweighs its $36 trillion in debt, Burgum said. If financial markets understood the value of America’s natural resources, the 10-year long-term interest rate would come down, Burgum claimed.

“The interest rates right now are one of the biggest expenses we have as a country,” Burgum said. “So one of the things that we have to do is unleash America’s balance sheet, and President Trump is helping us do that,” he said.

Burgum slammed the Biden administration’s focus on climate change as an “ideology.” He said the Trump administration views Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon and China winning the artificial intelligence race as the two existential threats facing the U.S. rather than global warming. Wright said Biden had a “myopic” and “quasi religious” belief in reducing emissions that hurt consumers.

Burgum and Wright dismissed policies that support a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, arguing that wind and solar won’t be able to meet rising energy demand in the coming years from artificial intelligence and re-industrialization.

“There is simply no physical way that wind, solar and batteries could replace the myriad uses of natural gas. I haven’t even mentioned oil or coal yet,” Wright said at the conference. Wright previously served as CEO of oilfield services company Liberty Energy and a board member at nuclear startup Oklo.

Oil execs see allies in Washington

Oil executives are enthusiastic about the change of administrations in Washington, returning the praise they received from Trump’s energy team during the week.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said Wright and Burgum “understand the business,” describing them as the best energy team the U.S. has seen in decades. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said he was “impressed by the quality of our counterparts.” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said the industry is “seeing some reality come back to the conversation.”

“For years, my message has been, we need a balanced conversation about affordability, reliability and the environment, and focusing only on climate leads us to ignore the first two,” Wright said.

Energy Sec. Wright: We can get to no or very low tariffs, but it's got to be reciprocal

The executives all referred to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, following Trump’s executive order to rename the body of water. The president issued an order on his first day to repeal Biden’s ban on offshore drilling in 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters.

BP CEO Murray Auchincloss briefly slipped before correcting himself when discussing how generative AI is helping with exploration: “We started doing this in the Gulf of Mexico, uh America, and we spread that to other nations as well.”

But Trump’s calls to “drill, baby, drill” are running up against market reality. The CEOs of Chevron and Conoco said U.S. oil production will likely plateau in the coming years after hitting new records under the Biden administration.

“Chasing growth for growth’s sake has not proven to be particularly successful for our industry,” Wirth said. “At some point, you’ve grown enough that you should start to move towards a plateau, and you should generate more free cash flow, rather than just more barrels.”

Lance sees U.S. oil production plateauing later this decade and then slowly declining.

“Maybe it’s time to go back to exploring the Gulf of America,” Pouyanné said. “The new administration is opening the Gulf. It has been slowed down after the Macondo drama,” he said, referring the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest in the history of marine drilling operations.

U.S. oil producers are scheduled to meet with Trump next week, industry lobby group American Petroleum Institute said in statement.

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