The goal of NRECA's work with the U.S. DOE on RADWIND was to raise awareness of distributed wind as a solution for the energy, resiliency, and economic development needs of electric cooperatives, and to provide resources and information that reduces barriers and lowers costs for co-ops seeking to deploy distributed wind. Through this project, NRECA Research aimed to establish a national distributed wind presence for and by NRECA's members that delivers these benefits, and to communicate to NRECA's members that properly deployed distributed wind can be a bankable technology option for rural America.
The RADWIND Project focused on clarifying the benefits and opportunities for distributed wind on our networks, reducing technical risks, and addressing the knowledge and resources needed to facilitate the adoption of distributed wind by rural utilities. This was accomplished through the identification of solutions, development of sharable resources, and demonstration of technology by and with rural communities. Many solutions involve pairing distributed wind with other Distributed Energy Resource (DER) technologies, such as solar energy or battery storage.
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[accordion title="What%20is%20distributed%20wind%3F"]Distributed wind is the use of wind technologies as a distributed generation resource. Distributed wind projects can use a wide range of turbine sizes from the small kilowatt scale up to multi-megawatt units. The U.S. Department of Energy distinguishes Distributed Wind systems from other wind deployments based on the following criteria:
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Proximity to End-Use: Wind turbines that are installed at or near the point of end-use for the purposes of meeting onsite energy demand or supporting the operation of the existing distribution grid.
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Point of Interconnection: Wind turbines that are connected on the customer side of the meter (also known as behind-the-meter), directly to the distribution grid, or are off-grid in a remote location.
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[accordion title="How%20does%20RADWIND%20work%3F"]RADWIND focused on five key areas:
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Convene co-ops and stakeholders to understand needs and establish clear metrics to determine the success of the project's efforts.
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Compile associated issues to address and to inform the development of solutions.
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Discuss issues and potential solutions with a larger stakeholder base to establish common practices.
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Address issues, through groups focused by topics, to create common materials, case studies, and common practices for both technical and financial aspects of any project.
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Present clear use cases, value cases, business cases, solutions, and shareable information resources to inform electric cooperatives as well as stakeholders seeking to provide services or products to them around Distributed Wind.
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NRECA led a dedicated team of experts focused on this effort, including:
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NRECA Project Manager: Michael Leitman
Michael.Leitman@nreca.coop
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NRECA Principal Investigator: Venkat Banunarayanan
Venkat.Banunarayanan@nreca.coop
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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL): One of the United States Department of Energy national laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's Office of Science.
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Hoss Consulting: A technical and management consulting group focused on renewable energy, telecommunications, and critical power industries.
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Mana Group LLC: Mana Group provides business strategy, consulting, and commercial advisory services for renewable energy, climate change, and corporate sustainability.
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Member Stakeholder Group: Included staff from NRECA's cooperative and rural utility members to advise the project team and review resources.
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Industry Stakeholder Group: Stakeholders from the distributed wind and broader DER industries and financial institutions to advise the project team and review resources.
For any questions or inquiries, contact our team at:
RadwindProject@nreca.coop
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