WPTO Announces Notice of Intent to Fund Marine Energy and Hydropower Research

DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy sent this bulletin at 09/21/2022 12:00 PM EDT

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Water Power Technologies Office

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Sept. 21, 2022

Welcome to the Water Wire, a bimonthly snapshot of all things water power. This month’s newsletter takes approximately six minutes to read. 

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

The world’s first hydroelectric power plant went online in 1882 in Appleton, Wisconsin. Nearly a century and a half later, water power continues to provide energy to millions of Americans. Keep reading for the latest news, events, and publications in the industry.

Upcoming Deadlines

Announcements & Opportunities

Ocean wave

WPTO Announces $10 Million Funding Opportunity to Advance Marine Energy Innovation: The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) published a notice of intent to issue a $10 million funding opportunity to support wave-powered technology innovation for seawater desalination, research and development for powering blue economy markets, and a feasibility assessment for an ocean-current test facility. WPTO expects to release the funding opportunity in the coming weeks.

DOE Announces $28 Million for Hydropower Research, Development, and Community Engagement: DOE issued a notice of intent to provide $28 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for research and development projects to advance and preserve hydropower as a critical source of clean energy. The proposed funding opportunities will support testing of innovative technologies, development approaches, or construction techniques. These will reduce time, cost, or risks associated with hydropower and pumped storage hydropower development; further the development and deployment of a permitted pumped storage hydropower project; and seek stakeholder insights to inform hydropower research.

Upcoming $4 Million Funding Opportunity to Advance Fish Passage and Protection Technologies: WPTO released a notice of intent to issue a $4 million funding opportunity to advance innovative hydropower fish passage and protection technologies. The proposed funding opportunity will support manufacturers, equipment vendors, and research organizations in gathering relevant information and data to verify effects on fish and the performance of innovative fish passage technologies and help reduce the environmental impact of hydropower generation..

DOE Distributes $13.5 Million to Support Record Number of Hydroelectric Facilities: WPTO and DOE’s Grid Deployment Office announced the distribution of $13.5 million in incentive payments to 55 hydroelectric facilities through the Section 242: Hydroelectric Production Incentive Program. Incentive payments were made to a record number of recipients, 18 of which were new applicants. This was also the first year DOE expanded the program’s eligibility criteria to include facilities located in communities with inadequate electric service. As a result, five newly eligible hydroelectric facilities received incentive payments.

Applications Open for Next Round of TEAMER Technical Support: The TEAMER program is accepting applications for its next RFTS through Oct. 14, 2022. The access period for teams to utilize facilities for RFTS 8 is February–November 2023. Sponsored by WPTO and directed by the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust, TEAMER offers marine energy stakeholders and developers access to the nation’s best facilities and expertise to support.

Products & Publications 

Top Things to Know About Marine Energy and Hydropower: Hydropower and marine energy resources have crucial roles in achieving the Biden administration’s goals of a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero-emissions economy by 2050. Learn about these incredible renewable energy sources!

  • Hydropower: By 2050, U.S. hydropower capacity could grow by about 50%, increasing to 150 gigawatts. That much renewable energy could power more than 35 million average U.S. homes. Learn about hydropower’s benefits and what the future may have in store.
  • Marine Energy: Marine energy is harnessed from the natural movement of water, including waves, tides, and river and ocean currents. Learn about the different kinds of marine energy and how much power this resource could generate. 

View the Presentations From the 2022 Water Power Program Peer Review: WPTO’s Program Peer Review featured presentations from several major WPTO-funded projects and allowed various industry leaders to express their opinions about the office’s work. Project presentation slides are now live on the WPTO website for those looking to dig deeper into WPTO projects.

CalWave Concludes Open-Ocean Wave Energy Pilot: CalWave Power Technologies, Inc. (CalWave) successfully concluded its open-ocean wave energy pilot after 10 months of continuous operation off the coast of San Diego, California. This project, supported with funding from WPTO, aimed to demonstrate CalWave’s xWave technology, which transforms the motion of ocean waves into electricity. This demonstration represented California’s first at-sea, long-duration wave energy project and a critical step toward providing wave power as a commercially viable renewable energy resource.

Empowering the Next Generation of Water Power Experts: The next generation of the water power workforce will make important contributions to the United States’ clean energy goals. To help develop this future workforce, WPTO offers a range of educational resources to teach students of all ages about hydropower and marine energy and highlight programs designed for those about to embark on their clean energy careers. 

Upcoming Events

Global Clean Energy Action Forum

Sept. 21–23, 2022, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

DOE and Carnegie Mellon University are currently hosting the first Global Clean Energy Action Forum, a joint convening of the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial and the seventh Mission Innovation ministerial. Join members of governments, international organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society, as well as innovators, early career researchers, and policymakers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as they look back at 2022 as the year the world took giant steps toward building a new energy economy that benefits all. Hydropower and storage are expected to be covered in several sessions, including a side event, titled “Pumped Hydropower Meets the Long Duration Energy Storage Wave,” which will take place on Sept. 22, 2022, 3–4 p.m. ET.

WPTO R&D Deep Dive: Distributed Wave Energy

TODAY, Sept. 21, 2022, 1 p.m. ET, Online

Distributed Embedded Energy Converter Technologies (DEEC-Tec) are starting to prove power can come in small packages. The potential ability to integrate a matrix of small individual energy converters together, provides opportunities to develop innovative ocean wave energy converters that could broaden how marine energy is both conceptualized and envisioned as a viable source of renewable energy. This webinar will demonstrate exciting pathways for application of DEEC-Tec that could propel progress in water power.

From Science to Consenting: OES-Environmental 2022 Highlights

Sept. 22, 2022, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. ET, Online 

Ocean Energy Systems’ (OES) annual public webinar will focus on risk retirement and reviewing all guidance documents as a whole, providing an update from the 2021 public webinar. The event will also cover current focus areas and new research topics such as tropical/subtropical environmental effects, displacement, and collision risk.

WPTO R&D Deep Dive: Lessons Learned From Instrumenting and Deploying Composite Tidal Turbine Blades

Sept. 27, 2022, 3–4 p.m. ET, Online

A research team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will share best practices from their experience instrumenting structures operating in harsh underwater environments and obtaining structural loads data on a deployed marine energy device. The webinar will also address topics that include marine energy data acquisition challenges and lessons learned from wind energy.

WPTO R&D Deep Dive: Small WEC Analysis in the Palm of Your Hand

Sept. 29, 2022, 1–2 p.m. ET, Online

Explore and compare small wave energy converter (WEC) performance with the Small WEC Analysis interactive modeling tool. The Small WEC Analysis tool uses performance data from downscaled models of common WEC devices and their calculated performance outputs. The devices include a point absorber, a two-body point absorber, an oscillating surge device, and an attenuator-type device. One of the primary use cases for this work is an easy way to compare power output between a variety of WECs and model sizes. This publicly available and easily accessible performance library is designed to give access to a more diverse field of technology developers without requiring hydrodynamic experience.

In Case You Missed It

Summer Splash: Catch the Latest Issue of The Current, NREL’s Water Power Newsletter: In NREL’s summer edition of The Current newsletter, uncover the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize Phase One winners, discover which tools are mapping the future of pumped storage hydropower, and explore the Renewable Energy Discovery Island.

EERE Success Story: Innovative Water Turbines Allow More Fish to Pass Safely Through Hydropower Dams: With funding from WPTO, Natel Energy, working with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, recently tested its Restoration Hydro Turbine, which incorporates elements like thicker blades to make it safer for fish to navigate through hydropower facilities without sacrificing electricity generation performance or efficiency.

WPTO Article: Ocean Observing Prize Supporters Help Build an Ecosystem to Support Marine Energy Pioneers: Through the Ocean Observing Prize, WPTO and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System Office challenge participants to integrate marine energy with ocean-observing systems, like uncrewed underwater vehicles or wave-energy-powered buoys. Read how prize sponsors work with participants to help turn their designs into reality.   

Social Spotlight

Beach at sunrise

EERE on LinkedIn — Sept. 12, 2022

How is marine energy captured and once it is captured, how does it work? Explore how this abundant, predictable, and renewable energy resource can power more than just your community.

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

WPTO/DOE in the News