In a study off the West Coast, researchers find that although seabirds generally soar underneath the height of possible future wind turbine blades, more work is being done to fully understand seabird flight behavior.

Regional wind data helps utilities save money, plan for windy days.

PNNL has paired one of its offshore wind research buoys with its ThermalTracker-3D technology to correlate avian activity with ocean and weather conditions off the California coast.

PNNL researchers say that offshore wind energy can add value to the electric grid, beyond just the power it can produce, if locations and strategies are optimized.