Last Chance To Apply for Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize

Bookmark and Share

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

header

Water Power Technologies Office

Divider

February 23, 2022

Banner announcing the newsletter name "The Water Column" with an image of the ocean at sunset behind it.

Welcome to the Water Column, a monthly snapshot of marine energy news and happenings. This month’s newsletter will take approximately seven minutes to read. 

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

Icon of marine energy.

Did You Know?

Oceanic blind spots are fairly common with about 80% of the ocean unexplored. These blind spots are home to an unknown number of species, 91% of which are unclassified. C-Power’s SeaRAY, an autonomous offshore power device, could help scientists study the ocean while generating clean energy to help power the blue economy.

Follow along on the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook channels for more #WaterWednesday content each week.


Upcoming Deadlines


Announcements & Opportunities

Ocean at sunset.

Last Chance To Apply for the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize: As part of the American-Made Challenges program, DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) launched the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize, which will offer a prize pool of up to $2.5 million. In a recent article from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, Rukmani Vijayaraghavan, innovation and market transformation advisor at WPTO, spoke about how the prize supports the Justice40 initiative and the Biden administration’s goal to achieve a net-zero-emissions economy by 2050. Learn more about the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize and Learn more about the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize and apply by Feb. 25, 2022, at 5 p.m. ET. 

EERE Launches New Email List To Share Funding Opportunities: EERE recently launched a new email list to share its open funding opportunities and prizes. Researchers, entrepreneurs, academics, professionals, and other stakeholders are encouraged to sign up to receive information about new funding opportunities across all of EERE’s clean energy research programs. Register for the new list and visit EERE’s Funding Opportunities page for additional resources and the latest information.    

DOE Calls for Applications to TCF: DOE recently opened applications for TCF awards. This year’s TCF reflects new flexibility stemming from modification to the TCF authorizing language passed in the Energy Act of 2020. DOE expects to make approximately $13.6 million–$16.7 million in federal funding available for awards. Submit your concept slides by March 8, 2022, at 3 p.m. ET. Full applications are due on April 29, 2022. All application materials must be submitted through EERE Exchange.

Wood Next Fund Partners With American-Made Challenges Prize Competitors To Support Water Desalination: Competitors in the Waves to Water and Solar Desalination prizes received a combined $300,000 grant from the Wood Next Fund to further the competitions’ shared goal of increasing access to fresh drinking water worldwide. Beneficiaries include eight semifinalist teams from the Solar Desalination Prize, which is designed to accelerate the development of desalination systems that run on solar-thermal power. Five finalists from the Waves to Water Prize will also receive a portion of the funds, which will be used for their work designing innovative, small, modular desalination systems powered by renewable marine energy.


Upcoming Events

Crashing waves.

Water Power Technologies Office Semiannual Stakeholder Webinar – March 2022

March 10, 2022, 1–2 p.m. ET 

Join WPTO leadership for a look back at some of the biggest accomplishments from WPTO and the water power research community over the last year and a preview of what’s yet to come. Plus, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelly Speakes-Backman will address administration priorities for the coming year as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s nearly $1 billion investment in hydropower and marine energy programs at DOE. Questions for WPTO may be submitted before the webinar by emailing WaterPowerTechnologiesOffice@ee.doe.gov

Register for the webinar.

WPTO R&D Deep Dive Webinar: LUPA – An Open-Source Laboratory Scale Wave Energy

March 16, 2022, 3–4 p.m. ET

Oregon State University and the Pacific Marine Energy Center will present the latest design and testing program for the Laboratory Upgrade Point Absorber (LUPA). LUPA is a robust, open-source WEC designed for deployment in the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Basin that can operate as a one-body, two-body (heave only), or a three-body, six-degrees-of-freedom system. The webinar will present the philosophy behind LUPA, give the latest engineering updates, and spark conversations around collaboration and future utilization of the device.

Register for the webinar.

Waves to Water Prize Testing and Surrounding Events

March 30, 2022–April 12, 2022

Join the Waves to Water Prize finalists at Jennette’s Pier and the Coastal Studies Institute in North Carolina’s Outer Banks or virtually as the teams will demonstrate some of the first-ever wave-energy-powered desalination systems. This event will be a public demonstration of these systems’ real-world functionality and potential. It will also be the first look at brand-new innovations and an opportunity to engage with competitors, DOE representatives, and professionals in the wave energy industry. If you are interested in contributing to one or more of the investor sessions, please reach out to WavesToWater@NREL.gov by Feb. 28, 2022. Visit the DRINK finale page to learn more about the prize finale and surrounding events. 

Regular registration for the event.

Student funding for the event.


Products & Publications

Equity and Inclusion: How the Water Power Technologies Office Is Building on Its Commitment to Expand Clean Energy Access across Underserved Communities: During Black History Month, the WPTO team is reflecting on efforts to ensure diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of work across the office. This includes recognizing the outstanding need to make WPTO-supported projects and funding opportunities more equitable and inclusive, which involves engaging more people and organizations within the Black community and attracting a diverse group of innovators and entrepreneurs. As the United States transitions toward a clean energy future, WPTO understands their responsibility to avoid past mistakes and ensure inclusion and accessibility. 

IDA Talks Series Features Experts From WPTO, the Advanced Manufacturing Office, and the Solar Energy Technologies Office: Tessa Greco, Powering the Blue Economy lead at WPTO, Melissa Klembara, technology manager in the Advanced Manufacturing Office, and Avi Shultz, program manager in the Solar Energy Technologies Office, discussed DOE desalination research programs during the International Desalination Association’s (IDA) IDA Talks series. IDA Talks gives international professionals from the desalination community an opportunity to discuss their work and the importance of desalination. 

NREL and Sandia National Laboratory Software Is Bringing the Ocean to the Laptop: Open-ocean testing is difficult to control, expensive, and time-consuming, but thanks to researchers at NREL and Sandia National Laboratories, the power of the ocean is now available on a laptop. The Wave Energy Converter Simulator (WEC-Sim) allows developers to simulate how much electricity their theoretical device could produce and how well it could handle the open ocean. 

ORPC and Our Katahdin Partner to Create New Testing Center: Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) and Our Katahdin announced a partnership to create a new testing center to support the next-generation design and development of ORPC’s river hydrokinetic power system. The test facility will be built in Millinocket, Maine, at One North, the former Great Northern Paper Mill site. In 2021, ORPC’s RivGen® Power System, which is operated in partnership with the Village of Igiugig, Alaska, became the longest operating hydrokinetic device in the Americas.


In Case You Missed It

WPTO Awards $25M For Open-Water R&D at PacWave: WPTO announced $25 million in funding across eight innovative marine energy projects that will support increased research, development, and demonstration of wave energy technologies and represent the first round of open-water testing at the PacWave South test site off the Oregon coast. 

Waves to Water Prize Seeks Sponsors: The Waves to Water Prize—a competition that aims to advance wave-energy-powered desalination systems—is seeking in-kind and financial sponsors. When scaled up, this technology has the potential to provide clean drinking water for remote and coastal communities during disaster recovery. Read more information about prize sponsorships here.

WPTO’s Role in Supporting Deployment of Marine Renewable Energy Technologies: Sea Technology Magazine recently published an article by Sarah Loftus, a fellow at WPTO, on how WPTO and national labs across the country are working to advance, test, and deploy marine energy technology. The article highlights deployments of marine energy devices in 2021 and how testing facilities and permitting tools help developers advance their technologies.


WPTO In the News


Marine Mentions