2025 Competitiveness Improvement Project Aims To Expand Access to Distributed Wind Energy Technology
In January 2025, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced the initiation of the 2025 Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) funding solicitation. This initiative is tailored to assist manufacturers in the wind energy sector, such as EWT Americas, in bringing their innovative technologies to market. The funding is particularly focused on helping EWT commercialize its 1-megawatt turbine, which has been installed at a wastewater treatment facility in the U.K., across various sectors including agriculture, commerce, and industry, particularly benefiting dairy processors and facilities dealing with biogas and water treatment.
New RFP to Boost Small and Medium Wind Turbine Development
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) NREL has released a request for proposals (RFP) under the CIP aimed at enhancing the development of small- and medium-sized wind turbines. The 2025 RFP introduces notable program modifications that are intended to simplify the pathways for innovative design, optimization, testing, and certification processes, thereby broadening access to distributed wind turbine technology. NREL administers this program on behalf of the DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, providing cost-sharing subcontracts and technical support from national laboratories to U.S. manufacturers and suppliers specializing in small- and medium-sized wind turbines. It is recognized that advancing these wind energy technologies to market readiness poses significant technical hurdles and demands considerable resources, especially for smaller enterprises that often lack the necessary capacity for independent development, certification, and commercialization.
Importance of Support for Smaller Manufacturers
Chris Connor, principal engineer at NPS Solutions, which secured CIP funding in 2022 and 2024 for the certification of its 100-kilowatt wind turbine and inverter, highlighted the challenges faced by smaller manufacturers. He noted that the costs associated with certification and testing can be prohibitive. The support provided by the DOE’s Competitiveness Improvement Project is crucial for smaller manufacturers like NPS Solutions, as it ensures their products meet safety, quality, and performance standards.
Responding to Market Demands and Industry Insights
The 2025 RFP has been developed in response to the current challenges within the U.S. distributed wind energy sector. It emphasizes award topics that aim to foster innovation and development in distributed wind energy technologies to enhance reliability, performance, and cost-effectiveness. This includes addressing the urgent need for specialized inverters that meet national safety and interconnection standards, as well as advancing manufacturing processes to lower hardware costs and satisfy increasing demand. Furthermore, the project aims to ensure that consumers have access to certified wind energy technologies that guarantee performance and quality.
Incorporating Industry Feedback for Enhanced Proposal Process
Brent Summerville, the CIP lead at NREL, stated that the program has already facilitated the growth of new and innovative distributed wind energy technologies across small businesses in the U.S. This has significantly improved public access to a variety of tested and certified small- and medium-scale wind turbine designs. In light of industry feedback, NREL will now allow optional concept papers in the 2025 RFP, enabling applicants to present their ideas and receive valuable feedback from CIP staff before submitting full proposals. To streamline the technology development process, applicants will now have the flexibility to propose follow-on efforts within a single phased proposal that encompasses multiple topic areas.
Increased Award Amounts and Upcoming Webinar
Moreover, the maximum funding amounts have been raised for five of the ten topic areas in 2025 to counteract the increasing costs associated with turbine manufacturing, testing, and inverter listing, as well as to accommodate the financial demands of medium-scale wind turbine development. NREL will hold a webinar on January 17, 2025, to provide detailed insights into the changes introduced in the CIP for 2025.
Proposal Focus Areas for 2025 CIP RFP
The 2025 CIP RFP encourages submissions that concentrate on ten specific topic areas:
- Prototype Manufacture: Projects aimed at producing full-scale prototype wind turbine systems ready for testing.
- Prototype Design Development: Efforts to advance original concepts from preliminary design to a final prototype ready for manufacturing and testing.
- Prototype Installation and Testing: Initiatives to validate prototype wind turbines for commercial readiness.
- Component Innovation: Projects focused on enhancing existing components like controllers, inverters, and rotor blades to reduce costs.
- System Optimization: Efforts to improve current wind turbine designs for enhanced efficiency and reduced energy costs.
- Small Turbine Certification and/or Listing: Projects aiding small wind turbines (150 kilowatts or less) in achieving certification and safety standards.
- Type Certification and Listing: Initiatives for turbines up to 1 megawatt to obtain necessary certifications.
- Inverter Listing: Projects addressing the need for inverters specifically designed for wind turbines up to 1 megawatt.
- Manufacturing Process Innovation: Efforts to design and validate improved manufacturing processes to cut costs and meet rising demand.
- Technology Commercialization: Projects focusing on commercial risks and the development of supportive tools and partnerships for large-scale deployment.
The 2025 CIP RFP has specific cost-share requirements, and proposals must demonstrate technical readiness, incorporation in the U.S., strong team capabilities, and a justified project budget. Work funded through this initiative is expected to occur within the United States or its territories unless justified otherwise.
The Impact of CIP on the Wind Energy Sector
Summerville emphasized that the CIP has played a crucial role in promoting wind energy as an economically viable option for distributed generation. The enhancements introduced in the 2025 program are designed to further bolster its impact and support the expanding landscape of the distributed wind energy sector.
