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Upcoming Deadlines
Announcements & Opportunities
DOE Launches $630 Million in Programs to Modernize Nation’s Hydropower Fleet: The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Grid Deployment Office, with assistance from the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), issued an RFI to inform the development of nearly $630 million in hydroelectric investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The RFI solicits feedback on program structure, timing and distribution of funds, definitions of capital improvements, and selection criteria for the Hydroelectric Efficiency Improvement Incentives Program (Section 243) and Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives Program (Section 247). Responses are due Sept. 6, 2022, by 11:59 p.m. ET.
Hydropower Prize Phase One Winner Announced, Phase Two Opens: WPTO recently announced eight winners of Phase One of the H2Os Prize. These teams are developing cutting-edge solutions for more innovative hydropower operational schemes with the potential to advance hydropower’s contributions to the Biden administration’s goal of decarbonizing the power grid by 2035. Phase Two of the prize is now open for submissions. Phase Two will close on Aug. 18, 2022.
DOE Awards $3.6 Million to Promote Equity and Diversity in Clean Energy Innovation: DOE announced Phase One selections for the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize, a first-of-its-kind competition designed to support entrepreneurship and innovation in communities historically underserved in federal climate and energy technology funding. By encouraging applications from innovators who had never applied for federal funding, at least 80% of submissions came from first-time applicants to DOE funding opportunities.
DOE Announces $18.4 Million in Funding to Streamline the Path to Market for Energy Technologies: DOE announced $18.4 million in funding through the Technology Commercialization Fund for seven proposed national laboratory projects designed to streamline the path for clean energy technologies to market. These projects aim to address barriers, gaps, and root causes of commercialization challenges at the national laboratories.
DOE to Support Clean Energy Transition in 12 Remote and Island Communities: In June 2022, DOE announced it will work with 12 competitively selected remote and island communities around the United States to help strengthen their energy infrastructure, reduce risk of outages, and improve their future energy and economic outlook. As many as four communities will be looking at water power solutions to assist in their energy transition.
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Products & Publications
How the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Energize America—With Water Power: Signed into law in November 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allots more than $62 billion for DOE to deliver a more equitable clean energy future. This includes approximately $1 billion for WPTO to support hydropower and marine energy, which will be key sources of carbon-pollution-free energy in tomorrow’s 100% clean energy world.
Untapped Potential: How WPTO Is Helping Create Environmentally Conscious Marine Energy Technology: Marine energy has enormous potential. The total available marine energy resource in the United States is equivalent to approximately 57% of all U.S. power generation in 2019. Researchers and developers must harness this powerful resource in a way that preserves the ecosystems surrounding and supported by oceans and rivers. Watch WPTO’s latest video to learn how the office is working to ensure marine energy technology is done right straight from the start.
MECC Alumni: Where Are They Now?: Hundreds of students have competed in WPTO’s Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) over the last three years. Learn more about how two past competitors turned their competition experiences into careers advancing marine energy.
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Murphy Gay: As a child, Gay knew with absolutely certainty he would be a paleontologist. As he grew up, his dreams, goals, and desires changed but his love for and desire to protect ecology and animals has helped shape his career.
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Nicholas May-Varas: May-Varas does not have a typical scientist origin story. Instead of building mini rockets in his parents backyard, he volunteered at local food banks and animal shelters and tutored fellow students. Through his love for giving back, May-Varas found his home: humanitarian engineering.
WPTO Article Examines Two New Studies on Opportunities to Expand Pumped Storage Hydropower: As a part of WPTO’s HydroWires initiative, Argonne National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently published studies exploring promising new pumped storage hydropower technologies and their potential in specific regions across the United States, respectively. This article explores both reports and their major findings.
Upcoming Events
WPTO Peer Review 2022
The peer review process enables external stakeholders to provide feedback and recommendations to WPTO in order to accelerate industry development in water power technologies. This input informs decision making, enhances active project management, and may modify or expand existing projects. The hydropower and marine energy peer reviews are virtual and open to the public.
 WPTO R&D Deep Dive: The H2Os Prize
Aug. 2, 2022, Online
WPTO launched the H2Os Prize to encourage the development of new solutions that can advance hydropower’s contribution to the grid. The prize challenges innovators to employ modeling, data analytics, and machine learning to create new ways for hydropower systems to coordinate with existing grid scheduling practices and meet water management needs. Join the team members who created the H2Os Prize to hear their reflections on Phase One and learn about what to look forward to in Phase Two, including how to get involved!
Hydroelectric Incentive Programs Webinar
Aug. 9, 2022, Online
DOE seeks input on the development of hydroelectric incentive programs authorized under sections 243 and 247 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as amended by sections 40332 and 40333 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.This webinar is a webinar is a way to provide input on the current RFI related to Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding.
Ocean Renewable Energy Conference + UMERC + METS
Sept. 13–15, 2022
The University Marine Energy Research Community (UMERC) and Marine Energy Technology Symposium (METS) are jointly sponsoring a marine energy research conference in Portland, Oregon, Sept. 13–14, 2022. The UMERC & METS Marine Energy Research Conference is a WPTO-funded effort led by the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust. This event will provide a venue where technical experts can present marine energy research that helps accelerate sustainable technology development. The conference will be held in conjunction with the Ocean Renewable Energy Conference (OREC) Sept. 14–15, 2022.
Global Clean Energy Action Forum
Sept. 21–23, 2022, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
This September 2022, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will host the first ever Global Clean Energy Action Forum, a joint convening of the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial and the seventh Mission Innovation ministerial. Join governments, international organizations, the private sector, academia, innovators, civil society, early career researchers, and policymakers as they look back at 2022 as the year the world took giant steps to build a new energy economy that benefits all.
In Case You Missed It
WPTO Awards $8 Million in Funding for Projects to Increase Hydropower Flexibility: WPTO announced $8 million in funding to support projects that will improve the flexibility of the U.S. hydropower fleet and enhance electric grid reliability. These projects will strengthen hydropower’s ability to support an evolving electric grid that includes an increasing amount of variable renewable energy sources.
DOE Announces 2022 MECC Winners and 2023 Teams: WPTO announced the winners of the 2022 MECC. Webb Institute emerged as the overall winner in this third annual competition while Oregon State University and the University of New Hampshire took second and third place, respectively. Learn about the other winners and the teams selected for the 2023 MECC and the inaugural Hydropower Collegiate Competition.
Small Businesses Receive Funding to Advance Water Power Research and Development Projects: In May 2022, DOE announced more than $2 million in funding for 13 water power projects, five focused on hydropower and eight on marine energy. These projects were funded by WPTO as part of DOE’s Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program, which aims to inspire innovation led by small businesses.
Social Spotlight
EERE on LinkedIn — June 29, 2022
“This once-in-a-generation investment will help put the United States on the path to achieve a 100% clean energy grid by 2035 and a net-zero-emissions economy by 2050.” – WPTO Director Jennifer Garson
Learn how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help advance the hydropower and marine energy industries.
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WPTO/DOE in the News
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Phase One Winners Announced of WPTO‘s Hydropower Prize Water Power and Dam Construction, International Water Power & Dam Construction, Staff Writer, July 13, 2022
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How Hydrology Could Help Researchers Prepare for a Changing Electric Grid, Energy News, Lisa Prevost, July 11, 2022
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OSU Researches Ways to Modernize Hydroelectric Power and Energy Storage, KEZI 9, Staff Writer, July 10, 2022
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Hydropower — Retrofitting Untapped Dams to do More, CleanTechnica via U.S. Department of Energy, Staff Writer, July 7, 2022
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Biden Administration Launches $630M to Modernize Nation's Hydropower Fleet, Renewable Energy Magazine, Staff Writer, July 1, 2022
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A Glass of Ocean Water: Quebec Company Wins Award for Desalination Technology, The Weather Network, Isabella O’Malley, June 29, 2022
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Meet the Siblings Making Hydropower That Actually Protects Rivers and Fish, Time, Amy Gunia, June 29, 2022
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