A new Center of Excellence for Research on Offshore Renewable Energy
(RORE) is now in place at URI. This Center coordinates
and expands research in this area that is conducted at the Graduate
School of Oceanography (GSO) and the Colleges of Environment and Life
Sciences (CELS), Engineering (COE), and Arts and Sciences. (CAS). The
vision of this new Center is to advance R&D in the areas of
offshore wind, current, wave, and thermal energy to position the State
of Rhode Island as the national leader in ocean energy. URI is ideally
suited for this Center because of its expertise that spans the priority
research areas. Our current expertise includes: leading wind &
storm researchers; wind measurement experts; world-renowned modeling
expertise in ocean/atmosphere, currents, and waves; leading team of
researchers in offshore oil & gas seafloor foundations; materials
scientists; ocean engineers; marine policy experts; artificial reef
specialists; and marine environmental protection specialists. The
Center complements future manufacturing and offshore
services, and support center activities planned for Quonset.
A grant of $125 K from the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (RIOER) using the Renewable Energy Fund was approved in November, 2007 for use as initial funding to assist in the creation of this Center of Excellence. The funds were used to hire a director who will further develop and submit proposals to industry and the federal government for the Center.
A proposal was recently submitted by URI GSO, CELS, the Department of Ocean Engineering (OCE), along with researchers from Roger Williams University (RWU), Brown University (Brown), and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to the Department of Energy Experimental Program to Stimulate Cooperative Research (EPSCoR) for a grant with a maximum funding level of $1.25 M ($750K DOE, $375K State match) annually. The maximum period of potential funding is six years with an initial grant period of three years.
The Center will pursue funding for its research activities from specific government agencies (e.g. RIOER, US Department of Energy (DOE), the Minerals Management Service (MMS), National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) and others with interests in offshore renewable energy. Proposals to industry will also be pursued to diversify the funding base and to develop industry-academia partnered projects that will advance basic research in this field into developed technology.
For additional information, contact Sam De Bow.
Photograph credit: Vestas
