Today, the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) applauded the launch of the Rural and Agricultural Income & Savings from Renewable Energy (RAISE) Initiative. Through this initiative, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Energy (DOE) aim within five years to support 400-plus farm or rural small business distributed wind projects under the Rural Energy for American Program (REAP). The launch was announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at Distributed Wind 2024, DWEA’s annual conference.
“DWEA and its members appreciate the commitment of Secretary Vilsack, USDA and the Department of Energy to provide technical assistance and grant funding to help small and mid-sized farmers plan and install distributed wind projects,” said Mike Bergey, President & CEO of Bergey Windpower Co. and DWEA Board President. “Thousands of small and medium-sized farms could lower operating costs or generate revenue by installing a wind turbine and there are robust new federal incentives for them to do so. The new USDA-DOE initiative will help get the word out and greatly accelerate the use of distributed wind systems.”
Lloyd Ritter, policy director for DWEA, added, “These projects provide reliable, affordable and sustainable energy to farmers and rural small businesses; they can even be a potential source of revenue for farmers who sell electricity to the grid. Vastly expanding the number of distributed wind energy systems over the next five years will be a big win for rural America, American manufacturing, and the climate.”
USDA will provide technical assistance to support applications for the use of $144.75 million in REAP grant funding reserved for underutilized technology projects. USDA and DOE will launch a new National Distributed Wind Network and Resource Hub in March 2024.
In addition, DOE is announcing a total of $4 million in related funding, including $2.5 million under the Distributed Wind Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) to support testing, certification and commercialization of the latest distributed wind technologies. DOE will also provide $1.5 million in technical assistance grants to identify and develop new business models for farmers to save money and earn income by deploying these technologies. DOE has identified advances in distributed wind technology that have opened a significant market opportunity.
NREL studies over the past several years have quantified the huge untapped potential for distributed wind. With just over 1 GW of current installed capacity, there is the potential to add 1,400 GW of economically viable capacity at 49 million sites. New technology, much of it developed with DOE support, has lowered costs, and made distributed wind systems much more competitive. Distributed wind energy systems’ levelized cost has been reduced by 60% in recent years.
