IUCRC Planning Grant Rowan University: Center for Grid Enhancing Technologies for Offshore Wind Transmission and Integration (GOWIND)

About This Grant

As a widely recognized, reliable, and sustainable energy source, offshore wind (OSW) has been rapidly deployed around the world. However, the OSW development in the U.S. is still in its infancy. The current electric energy infrastructure in the U.S., as well as the enabling technologies, are not well prepared for an efficient transmission and integration of large-scale OSW, which is preventing the U.S. from playing a critical role in leading this global technology transformation. To this end, Rowan University, in collaboration with New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), will conduct planning activities towards establishing a Center for Grid Enhancing Technologies for Offshore Wind Transmission and Integration (GOWIND). GOWIND aims to establish a strategic research and education hub focused on driving technological innovation, creating partnerships, and advancing workforce training to enable the sustainable development of the nation’s OSW industry. With strong support from industry partners of different sectors and government agencies, this collaborative effort will address critical challenges in OSW transmission and integration, its grid enhancement technologies, and the shortage of domestic workforce, seeking intelligent, cost-effective, and industry needed solutions to enable a smooth transition towards an offshore economy and secure energy future. The mission of GOWIND is to drive innovative and scalable technology development, seek synergism in research, execute domestic workforce training, accelerate standards development, boost regional engagement, promote knowledge sharing, and ultimately support the creation of a resilient and sustainable energy future. GOWIND will address a wide spectrum of key unmet industry needs focused on OSW transmission and integration. The Center’s research thrusts encompass high-voltage direct current transmission and converter technologies, grid congestion management and interoperability, energy storage and Power-to-X, grid-forming inverters, coordinated control and operation, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, and cyberphysical resilience. These areas represent significant economic and technical challenges in OSW integration into the aging infrastructure. The Rowan site offers multidisciplinary expertise in energy systems, structural analysis and health monitoring, communication, AI and machine learning, and cyberphysical security. With the state-of-the-art facilities and strong support from the Intelligent Power and Energy System Research Lab, Wireless Learning and Cognition Lab, Mechanics of Advanced Materials Lab, Vibro-Acoustic Lab, and Machine & Artificial Intelligence Virtual Reality Center, Rowan will play a unique role in conducting the proposed cutting-edge research, in collaboration with NJIT and industry partners. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.