Amount Requested: $15,000,000.00

The University of Houston and its government and industry partners are creating the National Offshore Wind Energy Center (NOWEC), which will develop a national, large wind turbine test facility in Texas and advance offshore wind energy technology for cost-effective energy production through collaborative R&D with state and federal agencies and industry.  NOWEC programs will include: basic research, large wind turbine testing and development, demonstration program, regulatory program, and technology transfer. NOWEC partners include researchers and scientists from five major Texas universities, leading U.S. wind developers and turbine manufacturers, the offshore industry, Department of Energy national labs, and state and federal agencies.  For FY 2010, NOWEC requests $15 million to fund its basic research program (described above), with resources to be shared among the university and industry partners.