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Follow along on the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)’s Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook channels for more #WaterWednesday content each week.
 Announcements & Opportunities
DOE Launches Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize: EERE launched the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize, which seeks to support innovation in communities historically underrepresented in the energy sector. This prize aligns with President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to deliver 40% of climate investment benefits to underserved communities while informing equitable research, development, and deployment within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The prize is accepting submissions for its first phase until Feb. 25, 2022.
TEAMER Open Water Testing Support Now Available: The Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) program, sponsored by DOE and directed by the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust (POET), is now offering open water testing at either an approved test facility or at a site of a project team’s choice, utilizing a TEAMER Open Water Capability. Visit the TEAMER website for more information on open water facilities and open water testing capabilities.
PNNL Issues RFP for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vessel: DOE and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) issued a new Request for Proposal (RFP) to design, fabricate, and deliver a new plug-in hybrid electric research vessel. Proposals are due Nov. 17 at 4 p.m. PT. For any questions, please reach out to Beverly Jennings at bev.jennings@pnnl.gov.
Apply Now: Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program: Applications are now open through Dec. 10, 2021, for the Marine and Hydrokinetic Graduate Student Research Program. Administered by DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the program is open to full-time doctoral students with a research thesis and/or dissertation at a U.S. institution. The program is designed to advance the graduate student’s overall doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources, and capabilities available at DOE offices, national laboratories, industry organizations, and other approved facilities where the participant will conduct part of their research. Visit the program website for detailed information about the program. Interested in learning about the program directly from current participants? Check out these interviews where current program fellows share their project goals, personal inspiration, and professional paths.
Expert Spotlight: Meet WPTO’s Newest Technology Manager, Elaine Buck
Please join us in welcoming the latest addition to our growing team of water power experts, Elaine Buck. A marine energy maven, Elaine brings years of relevant experience sure to make an immediate impact on WPTO’s marine energy efforts. Most recently, Elaine was a technical manager at the European Marine Energy Centre Ltd where she helped develop standardized processes within the center’s project management system. Now, she will be focusing her expertise on wave and tidal testing methodologies. Learn more about Elaine’s expertise and the unique insights she brings to WPTO.
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Products & Publications
Waverider Buoys Collect Data on Powerful Clean Energy Available in Our Oceans: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently partnered with the Southeast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association and Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System in Puerto Rico to map out where the most reliable energy flows to deliver clean energy to coastal communities. Two Waverider buoys owned by NREL were deployed to collect detailed data on surface waves to not only move marine energy closer to wide-scale use but also help scientists understand how climate change is affecting the oceans.
Clearing a Path to Commercialization of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies: Partners from PNNL, Integral Consulting, the University of Washington, and MarineSitu co-authored an article in Frontiers in Marine Science describing how government mechanisms fostered research efforts that led to acceleration of new environmental monitoring technologies.
International Experts Release White Paper on the Potential for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion: This month, the International Energy Agency´s Ocean Energy Systems—the international technology collaboration program focused on marine energy—released a white paper on ocean thermal energy conversion. The white paper was developed to provide technology developers, policymakers, and other stakeholders an update on the global potential of ocean thermal energy conversion, its history, present state of development, and future prospects. The United States is a member of the Ocean Energy Systems, represented by WPTO staff who sit on its executive committee.
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Upcoming Events
UMERC Research Landscape Workshop Series
Nov. 3, 2021, 9–11 a.m. PT
Register here
The University Marine Energy Research Community (UMERC), a new initiative funded by DOE and administered by POET, recently launched a workshop series aimed to engage with the research and industry communities to develop an initial community research landscape that visually maps out and describes the research and technologies in the marine energy sector, including how they intersect and complement one another. Join this first in a series of workshops to help shape the direction of UMERC.
In Case You Missed It
DOE Announced Finalists Advancing to Final Stage of Waves to Water Desalination Prize: DOE announced five winners in the CREATE Stage of the Waves to Water Prize, a competition focused on developing small, modular, cost-competitive desalination technologies that use the power of waves to provide potable water in disaster recovery and to communities in need. Winners have advanced to the final stage of the prize, the DRINK Stage. In the DRINK Stage, competitors have 180 days to build and ship their wave-powered desalination prototypes to Jennette’s Pier in North Carolina. There, the devices will undergo up to five days of testing in the open ocean to compete for $1 million in prizes.
CalWave Successfully Commissions Open Water Wave Energy Pilot: On Sept. 16, 2021, CalWave Power Technologies Inc. successfully commissioned its WPTO-funded CalWave x1 off the coast of San Diego, California. This milestone event marks the beginning of California’s first at-sea, long-duration wave energy pilot project, which is operating fully submerged. The CalWave x1 will be tested for 6 months with the goal of validating the performance and reliability of the system in the open ocean.
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Making Waves for Coastal Careers: PNNL hosted students and teachers from native tribes and other historically underserved groups at their Sequim, Washington, campus to nurture future researchers who are needed to create sustainable and culturally sensitive marine energy technologies.
Triton’s Support of DOE-Funded Technology: PNNL’s Triton Initiative works to understand the potential environmental impacts of marine energy systems to help advance this renewable energy industry. Building knowledge in this field of research is not possible without innovative technology to monitor what dwells beneath the waves. Read PNNL’s web feature to learn more about the Triton-supported DOE projects.
PNNL’s Zhaoqing Yang Invited as Guest Editor for Special Issue of Renewable Energy: Zhaoqing Yang, chief scientist for coastal ocean modeling at PNNL, was recently selected to serve as the lead guest editor for a special issue of the Renewable Energy journal.
PNNL Featured in Two Marine Energy Podcasts: PNNL’s Andrea Copping was featured on the Energy Transition Show where she discussed the marine energy industry and understanding environmental effects. Alicia Amerson, who works on the Triton Initiative at PNNL, was featured in Water Women where she spoke on marine energy, careers, and Triton’s role in progressing the marine energy industry.
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Marine Mentions
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Is The Tide Turning on Renewable Marine Power? Entrepreneurs Test Wave-Powered Energy Systems, GeekWire, Lisa Stiffler, 10/10/21
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CalWave Successfully Commissioned Open-Water Wave Energy Pilot, Alt Energy Magazine, 10/8/21
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Scana’s Seasystems to Provide Mooring Solution for World’s First Floating Tidal Energy Array, Offshore Engineering, 10/8/21
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Yinson Seeks to Accelerate Marine Batteries Through Investment in PBES, Maritime Executive, 10/7/21
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Why Wave Energy Upstarts Are Struggling To Scale, Fortune, Phil Rosen, 9/28/21
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Oscilla Power To Deploy Triton-C Wave Energy System in Hawaii, GlobeNewswire, 9/24/21
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