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Announcements and Opportunities
2021 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Winners Announced
On April 30, DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced the winners of the 2021 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC).
This year’s MECC submissions proved to impress. Congratulations to the winners!
DoD Small Business Innovation Research Marine Energy Opportunity
On May 19, the Department of Defense (DoD) will release a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) opportunity to develop a portable hydroelectric generator. The solicitation calls for a generator that can be dropped in a stream or other area of moving water and provide a level of power needed to recharge a unit’s batteries or meet other low-power requirements.
Publications
Hybrid Energy Systems: Opportunities for Coordinated Research
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released a new report titled “Hybrid Energy Systems: Opportunities for Coordinated Research,” designed to identify high-priority, near-term opportunities for DOE program offices to coordinate on Hybrid Energy Systems research.
PNNL Publishes Biological Performance Assessment (BioPA) Report
The HydroPASSAGE technical team at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) recently published a report on BioPA, demonstrating the tool’s multifaceted, cost-effective use for comparing turbine designs, enhancing fish passage, and improving hydropower facilities and operations. The validation report concludes that a more sustainable hydropower fleet can be successfully achieved by comparing and minimizing fish stressors with BioPA.
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PNNL Creates Cybersecurity-Focused Best Practice Guidance for Marine Energy Devices
PNNL created the first-ever cybersecurity guidance report for marine renewable energy (MRE) devices on behalf of WPTO. The guidance is designed to help MRE developers consider risks in their design and operations.
Upcoming Webinars and Events
National Academy of Sciences 2021 Conference on Federal and Congressional Priorities for Water
May 24–25, 12–4:30 p.m. ET
Register here
Register today for the National Academy of Science’s Water Science and Technology Board: Spring 2021 Meeting. Featuring DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Power Alejandro Moreno, the meeting will engage federal agencies and congressional staff on their water priorities in the coming years.
Discover Marine Energy Resources with the Interactive Marine Energy Atlas
May 27, 10–11:30 a.m. ET
Register here
Pinpoint promising marine energy resource sites with the click of a button in the upgraded Marine Energy Atlas. Developed by NREL and funded by WPTO, this interactive mapping tool provides access to new high-resolution wave resource data sets generated by PNNL and Sandia National Laboratories. Wave, tidal, ocean, riverine current, and ocean thermal resources are available on MHK Atlas, which will be retired soon in favor of the new Marine Energy Atlas. Users can download high-res data about potential locations for marine energy projects and begin to understand risks, such as very large waves. Join NREL on May 27, 10–11:30 a.m. ET to learn more about the Marine Energy Atlas and how it can support your work.
Accelerating Irrigation Modernization
June 2, 2–3 p.m. ET
Register here
WPTO is accelerating reinvestment in the nation’s irrigation systems to simultaneously promote farmers’ and rural communities’ economic well-being, generate more renewable energy, advance environmental stewardship, and enable agricultural decarbonization. Join the researchers from Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and PNNL, who developed a decision support and visualization tool called IrrigationViz, on June 2, 2–3 p.m. ET, as they demonstrate their tool’s utility in modernization cost-benefit analysis.
In Case You Missed It
National Laboratory, Municipal Power Utility Test Energy Storage Tech for Small Hydropower Generation
Working with Idaho Falls Power, INL researchers performed tests to see how the city’s turbines and generators might be ramped up quickly after an outage with help from small hydropower combined with energy storage.
Check out INL’s press release, as well as local coverage in the Post Register and ABC Local News 8.
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NREL Takes Novel Approach to 3D-Printed Water Power Prototypes
Marine energy system developers have a pressing need for more efficient and cost-effective prototyping techniques. To fill this innovation gap, researchers at NREL and Montana State University (MSU) set out to explore the potential for rapid prototyping using additively manufactured composite molds. With Water Power Laboratory Seedling program funding from WPTO, the researchers began a year-long effort to combine additive and composite manufacturing techniques into a faster, cheaper, and more repeatable process.
Verdant Power Completes Successful Retrieve-and-Replace Operation with NREL
On May 5, Verdant Power performed a retrieve-and-replace operation during which one of the turbines from its TriFrame™ mount at the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project site was replaced with a rotor housing three thermoplastic blades manufactured by NREL. For more information on the RITE project, visit Verdant’s website.
Quidnet Achieves Major Milestones in DOE-funded Projects
Quidnet Energy (Quidnet) announced the achievement of two key milestones in its project with WPTO to commercialize the company’s Geomechanical Pumped Storage technology.
 Overhead shot of Quidnet’s Castilleja, Texas, well pad.
Best Dam Job: 14 PNNL Researchers Share Their Role in Advancing Hydropower
As part of Waterpower Week, PNNL featured 14 of the national laboratory’s 100 hydropower researchers who are passionate about maintaining a reliable, resilient electric grid. Take a look at why they feel they have the “best dam job.”
NREL: Rethinking Hydropower for Energy and Environmental Sustainability
Natel Energy and NREL are hard at work developing a low-head, low-impact hydropower approach that addresses one of the leading concerns of new deployment—impacts to natural stream flows.
Learn More about the Triton Initiative
The Triton Initiative, which supports development of environmental monitoring technologies for marine energy applications, recently launched a newsletter that features project updates, events, new Triton Stories, and notes from the field.
You can subscribe here! Also check out one of the amazing women who helped build Triton into the program it is today, Meg Pinza, group leader for Coastal Sciences Division at PNNL.
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