Biden Administration’s Budget Request Calls for Increase in Water Power R&D

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Water Power Technologies Office

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June 29, 2021

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Reach out to us at WaterPowerTechnologiesOffice@ee.doe.gov with any inquiries or suggestions.

Estimated read time: 7 minutes


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Wrapping up National Ocean Month

National Ocean Month might be coming to an end, but the possibilities to protect, preserve, and prioritize the ocean are endless.

Infographic saying the ocean covers more than 70% of the earth.

Here at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), every month is ocean month, and we invite you to continue to appreciate, understand, and celebrate our ocean’s power and potential throughout the year.

The Ripple Effect of Water Power Changemakers

A new WPTO article takes an in-depth look at the forces behind the waves. WPTO Acting Director Jennifer Garson and Dr. Lindsay Dubbs are leading the charge for WPTO’s Powering the Blue Economy Initiative and paving the way for new marine energy opportunities that are as vast as the ocean itself. Read the full article to learn more about these inspiring marine industry leaders.

DOE STEM Rising Highlights Careers in the Blue Economy

Infographic about careers in marine energy.

From ocean engineers and marine biologists to policy analysts and communication specialists, ocean careers span diverse segments of the blue economy. Dive into DOE’s new STEM Rising article to explore examples of DOE employees working to protect, restore, and harness the power of the ocean.  

A Milestone for Tidal Energy: Verdant Power Successfully Replaces a Test Turbine After 6 Months of Continuous Operation in New York

A new WPTO feature article highlights Verdant Power’s successful retrieve-and-replace (R&R) of one of the three tidal turbines at Verdant Power’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project on New York’s East River. The R&R operation was intentionally planned to demonstrate Verdant Power’s new TriFrame™ mount, which was designed to ease operations and maintenance tasks for marine energy systems.


Announcements & Opportunities

Biden Administration’s Budget Request Calls for Increase in Water Power R&D

On May 28, President Biden unveiled his detailed budget request for fiscal year 2022. The request includes $196 million for WPTO, a 31% increase from 2021 appropriations with $112M allotted for marine energy and $84.5M allotted for hydropower. For more information on the FY22 request and WPTO funding priorities, see Volume 3, Part 1 of DOE’s FY2022 Budget Justification or visit the WPTO website. You can also hear about these priorities directly from WPTO Acting Director Jenn Garson in our next Semiannual Stakeholder Webinar on Thursday, July 15. 

DOE Seeks Public Feedback on How To Remove Barriers to Participation in Funding Programs

DOE recently released a request for information (RFI) to understand the current barriers and actions needed to make its funding opportunities and innovation and entrepreneurship activities more inclusive, just, and equitable, in line with the Administration’s climate goals and Justice40 initiative. This RFI is intended to inform DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (ED) on enabling an inclusive and just entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem for climate and energy technology research. Responses are due August 6, 2021, by 5 p.m. ET. View the full RFI.

TEAMER Program Expands Available Opportunities and Resources

WPTO has announced that the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust (POET) will continue their management as Network Director of the Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) program. In their next phase of management, POET will expand the TEAMER program to create additional educational and outreach opportunities and provide marine energy developers and researchers with support and access to the facility network. For more information, please visit the TEAMER website.

WPTO Announces Funding for SBIR and STTR Marine Energy R&D

WPTO announced $2.4 million in funding for 12 new Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) marine energy research and development projects. The 12 selected small businesses will receive Phase I Release 2 grants of up to $200,000 to explore the technical feasibility of co-developing innovative marine energy powered systems to meet the energy needs in blue economy markets, like ocean observing.

DOE Office of Technology Transitions Announces Project Recipients in Latest Round of the Technology Commercialization Fund

DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions announced the 2021 selections in the latest round of the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF)—a program that transitions national lab-based research and development projects towards applied energy programs with potential for impact across industry.

Federal Agencies Release Hydropower MOU Action Plan

DOE, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released their Action Plan for enhancing federal hydropower research to the benefit of their customers and stakeholders—a commitment made through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on National Hydropower Day (August 24, 2020). The Action Plan summarizes the MOU signatories’ interagency projects across diverse topic areas such as water supply reliability and workforce development.


Publications

PNNL Highlights Investigation into Hydropower’s Evolving Value to the Grid and Energy Storage

PNNL led a study that assessed the value of hydropower in different regions of the country.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) led an investigation into hydropower’s evolving value to the grid and energy storage and found that hydropower continues to be a significant contributor to grid reliability and resilience. A new article from PNNL reflects on the study’s themes and key takeaways.

Modernizing Hydropower with Digital Twins

Did you know PNNL and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are working to leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, and virtual reality to inform hydropower modernization decisions? The labs will develop a virtual, open-access platform that creates a digital representation of hydroelectric plants using virtual and real-time data, along with feedback to optimize operations.


Upcoming Webinars & Events

WPTO R&D Deep Dive Series: 2021 Hydropower RAPID Toolkit Annual Update

July 8, 1-2:30 p.m. ET
Register here

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will provide an overview on the Hydropower Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit project as well as recent regulatory and technological updates, including newly released tools, data, and publications. Participants will be able to ask questions and provide input on how the hydropower community can best utilize the toolkit.

WPTO Semiannual Stakeholder Webinar Featuring New Head of WPTO

July 15, 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET
Register here

Join us for our semiannual stakeholder webinar where the new Acting Director of WPTO, Jennifer Garson, will share water power highlights from the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget request. Program representatives will also highlight ongoing programs and open opportunities. The webinar will close with Q&A. Register now and email questions ahead of the webinar to WaterPowerTechnologiesOffice@ee.doe.gov.

WPTO R&D Deep Dive Series: Contributing Data and Information to PRIMRE

July 28, 3-4 p.m. ET
Register here

Join WPTO, PNNL, NREL, and Sandia National Laboratories for an introduction to the PRIMRE (Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy) universe—WPTO’s centralized system for storing, curating, and disseminating data and information for all aspects of marine energy. During this webinar, we’ll focus on how you can contribute your data to the various knowledge hubs that make up PRIMRE: MHK Data Repository, Tethys, Tethys Engineering, Marine Energy Software Database, Marine Energy Projects Database, and Telesto.


2019-2020 Accomplishments Report: Project Spotlight

Sonar images.

Industry-Led Research Provides Accurate, AI–Based Approach for Analysis of Sensitive Species Passing Through or Around Dams

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) successfully achieved proof of concept for automated identification of silver phase American eels in multibeam sonar data, providing evidence of a new mechanism to more accurately detect and analyze species of concern in the United States.

Read WPTO’s 2019-2020 Accomplishments Report to learn more.


In Case You Missed It

EERE Announces NOI for Funding to Support the Wave Energy Industry at PacWave South Facility

EERE announced a Notice of Intent (NOI) for a potential Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to support R&D projects that use the PacWave South wave energy converter (WEC) testing facility to advance wave energy converters and supporting technologies. The R&D performed under this FOA will be the first testing performed at the PacWave South facility.

Marine Energy to Hydrogen Working Meeting Recap

NREL, in coordination with DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) and WPTO, hosted the virtual Marine Energy to Hydrogen Working Meeting on February 17, 2021. The meeting convened relevant research, industry, and government representatives to discuss the opportunities and challenges of integrating marine renewable energy resources with hydrogen energy storage. Interested in learning more? You can now visit the HFTO webpage to view all of the presentations.

ORPC Plans to Advance Tidal Energy in Cook Inlet

Following proven installations of its WPTO-funded RivGen® unit in Igiugig, Alaska, Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) Inc. has submitted a preliminary permit application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposing to initiate the process towards installing a tidal energy project at East Foreland, Cook Inlet, Alaska. Once the project is operational, ORPC will sell the tidal power produced to Homer Electric Association, Inc.

PNNL Hosts Webinars on Marine Energy Data

PNNL is developing a data pipeline to read, process, and convert raw instrument data to standard formats to accelerate analysis and advance science. This effort was recently featured in two recent webinars available for viewing—Marine Energy Data Standards on April 20 and Marine Energy Data Pipeline on May 11.

Making Waves for Marine Energy: Triton from the Water Power Technologies Office Perspective with Samantha Eaves

Samantha Eaves leads the environmental research and instrumentations sub-activity area for the WPTO's Marine Energy program and has been an integral part of Triton since its genesis. Learn more about Samantha and her work.

ORNL’s Carly Hansen is Identifying Hydropower's Potential

Carly H Hansen

Carly Hansen, a water resources engineer at ORNL, is rethinking what’s possible for hydropower in the United States. Using her skills in engineering, remote sensing, and data science, Hansen asks big questions about new hydropower development and what role this unique power source might play in accelerating the country’s transition to clean, flexible, and secure energy systems.

Learn more about Carly and her work.