The 2021 International Conference on Ocean Energy & Waterpower Week

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Water Power Technologies Office

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April 27, 2021

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Estimated read time: 6 minutes


This Week is all About Water Power!

The 2021 International Conference on Ocean Energy & Waterpower Week

Join representatives from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the national laboratories at a series of events this week focused on the power of water.

  • The Deputy Secretary of Energy, along with staff from across DOE and the national laboratories, will participate in the National Hydropower Association (NHA)’s annual Waterpower Week conference taking place April 27-29. Visit the event website for information on the program and DOE speaking roles.
  • The 2021 International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE), also hosted by NHA, will draw international experts from the marine energy sectors to highlight device innovation, new market developments, and regulatory frameworks helping to spur progress around the world. The event, sponsored by the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), will be held virtually April 28-30 with the theme “Energizing a Powerful Blue Economy.” This is an unparalleled opportunity to learn about the latest in marine energy from the Deputy Secretary of Energy, WPTO staff, national laboratory researchers, and marine energy experts from across the globe. Visit the WPTO site for information about DOE’s involvement in ICOE.
  • Whether you participate in these conferences or not, don’t miss out on this year’s Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC)! The competition inspires multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students to unlock the power of the ocean, rivers, and tides to create a business plan and develop, design, and test the technologies that build resilient coastal communities and provide power at sea. On April 29, join the DOE and the 16 interdisciplinary student teams in the final competition awards ceremony. Visit the MECC website for more information about the competition. Ready to dive in yourself? We’re already planning the 2022 MECC, which is now open for applications through May 7, 2021.

Announcements

Small island in the ocean.

DOE Announces Community Selections for Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project

On April 20, DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced 11 remote and island communities selected to receive resources and technical assistance to reduce systemic risk and strengthen energy resilience through its Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Program (ETIPP).

Ocean Observing Prize Finalists Announced

Branding for Ocean Obs prize.

On April 19, WPTO and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) announced 7 finalists for the DESIGN Contest of the Powering the Blue Economy™: Ocean Observing Prize’s DEVELOP Competition. The DEVELOP Competition focuses on hurricane monitoring and challenges contestants to develop their ideas into a functioning prototype through three contests: DESIGN, BUILD, and SPLASH.

The winners of the DESIGN Contest will now be invited to the next phase of the DEVELOP Competition, the BUILD Contest, where they will build functioning prototypes and test their systems in a controlled environment such as a wave tank. Up to five winning teams selected during the BUILD Contest will be awarded shares from a prize pool of $500,000 and advance to the final stage of the competition, the SPLASH Contest.

In the SPLASH Contest, teams will refine their prototypes and test their systems at sea to evaluate endurance and performance in real-world conditions. Up to three grand prize winners will share a total prize pool of up to $1.5 million.

Read DOE’s announcement and follow the competition to learn more about the finalists.


Upcoming Webinars & Events

DOE, National Labs, and Universities to Host Workshop on River Basin Management

On May 7, from 12-3 p.m. ET, DOE will be hosting a virtual workshop with Stanford University, University of New Hampshire, University of Maine, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to discuss opportunities and issues surrounding discoverability, access, and usability of data needed for U.S. river basin management. The project team will be publishing a series of online interactive stories on this topic in the coming weeks, focusing on water management in the Penobscot River Basin, Connecticut River Basin, California’s Potter Valley (Eel and Russian Rivers), the Wisconsin River Basin and through HydroSource—a national scale energy-water platform. To register, please fill out this Google Form.

Join PNNL for New Marine Energy Data Pipeline Webinar

The Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMRE) is hosting a webinar for the Marine Energy Data Pipeline team, led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), to discuss data standards and introduce the development of the new marine energy data pipeline. The webinar, “Marine Energy Data Pipeline”, will take place at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PDT/6:00pm UTC) on May 11, 2021 and will focus on the demonstration of the open-source time series data utility that can be used to convert raw data to standardized format. Register for the webinar today.

Upcoming Ocean Visions 2021 Summit Features WPTO Speaker

Register today for the Ocean Visions 2021 Summit, which will take place virtually from May 18-21. This year’s theme is “Towards a Global Ecosystem for Ocean Solutions” and will bring together a multi-sector community to develop roadmaps for solving great ocean challenges. Register today and access the full agenda.


2019-2020 Accomplishments Report: Project Spotlight

Integration of Run-Of-River Hydropower with Energy Storage Creates Additional Grid Value, New Market Participation Opportunities

Throughout 2019‒2020, Idaho National Laboratory worked closely with Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) and NREL to demonstrate the technical potential and economic benefit of co-locating and coordinating multiple run-of-river hydropower plants with different types of energy storage devices, creating “virtual reservoirs” with potential to function similarly to conventional reservoir-based hydropower plants.

Concept design of INL’s Integrated project.

Concept design of INL’s Integrated project.

Initiated in 2016 with support from WPTO, the first phase of the project looked at demonstrating the technical feasibility and financial performance of combining energy storage systems with run-of-river hydropower plants to provide a greater range of grid services. Phase II of the project began in 2019 and focuses on applying the tools, models, and capabilities developed in Phase I to a series of use cases.

The first use case is being explored in partnership with Idaho Falls Power and uses ultracapacitors integrated with a run-of-river hydropower plant to enable black-start capability. Black-start capabilities at the distribution level would enhance system reliability and allow hydropower owners/operators to restore services in islanded mode, reducing downtime for customers if an event occurs and improving grid resilience. This capability was recently demonstrated in a field test with Idaho Falls Power, and was broadcast to the public via Facebook Live. To learn more, check out this press release!


In Case You Missed It

PacWave South Facility Featured in Grist

Check out Grist’s recent article, titled, “The U.S. is finally looking to unlock the potential of wave energy,” which highlights the recent federal approval of Oregon State University’s PacWave South Facility.

PSH Valuation Guidebook

Last month, Argonne National Laboratory published its Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) Valuation Guidebook that includes a step-by-step valuation methodology that PSH developers, plant owners/operators, and other stakeholders can use to assess the value of existing or potential new PSH plants and their services.

New Video Spotlights Verdant Power’s Record-Breaking Tidal Energy Turbines

Verdant Power launch on NYC's East River.

In October 2020, Verdant Power of New York installed three fifth-generation free flow system tidal power turbines with its new TriFrame™ mounting system at its Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Site in New York’s East River. With funding from WPTO, the TriFrame™ design reduces the timeline and cost of installation and maintenance and converts the kinetic energy from tidal currents into electrical and mechanical power, resulting in record-breaking marine energy production. A newly released video spotlights the industry-leading project, while providing a first-hand look at the team and technology that made it all possible.

One Student’s Journey to Build a Swarm of Robotic Devices for Underwater Mapping

WPTO loves to celebrate successes that advance marine energy R&D! Learn about Dr. Trevor Harrison’s impressive journey from physics student to marine energy engineer with a validated new technology—µFloats—built for surveying tidal flows and costal environments through data gathering, a task that often proves difficult and costly for researchers. 

Scuba diver in a testing tank.