Corrected: WPTO Launches $2.3 Million Wave Energy Prize

DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy sent this bulletin at 04/20/2023 12:01 PM EDT

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Water Power Technologies Office

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April 20, 2023

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

Reach out to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) at WaterPowerTechnologiesOffice@ee.doe.gov with any inquiries or suggestions.
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Did You Know?

When testing devices at the PacWave facilities, marine energy stakeholders don’t have to worry as much as they normally do about prepermitting because WPTO has already completed that process for them. Hear what else WPTO Marine Energy Program Manager Tim Ramsey and CEO of Orbital Marine Power Andrew Scott discussed on Wood Mackenzie’s The Interchange podcast.

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Products & Publications

WPTO Launches Prize to Harness the Power of Ocean Waves with New Technologies: WPTO launched InDEEP, which will award up to $2.3 million to competitors investigating novel technologies for harnessing and converting the power of ocean waves into usable types of energy. The prize aims to support early-stage research in distributed embedded energy converter technologies (DEEC-Tec) that lays the foundation for the eventual deployment of these technologies at all scales, including to provide power to electricity grids. The first phase is now open for submissions and will close on Aug. 25, 2023.  

WPTO Opens Applications for the Fifth Annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: WPTO opened applications for the fifth annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition, which helps undergraduate and graduate students prepare for jobs in marine energy and related industries. The 2024 competition asks multidisciplinary teams to develop solutions for ways marine energy can help power the blue economy. Teams will be eligible for an initial cash prize to support their competition activities as they compete for overall first-, second-, and third-place awards as well as awards for individual challenges. Applications are due April 24, 2023.

WPTO Releases 2021–2022 Accomplishments Report: WPTO’s annual accomplishments report highlights notable achievements and successes from WPTO-supported projects at DOE national laboratories, companies, academic institutions, and other organizations across the country. The projects in the report range from new methodologies for environmental monitoring to open-water tests of new devices. These projects are just part of the work WPTO is doing to help transition the United States to a clean energy economy.

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Ocean Climate Action Plan: The Ocean Policy Committee released the first U.S. Ocean Climate Action Plan. It outlines steps to harness the power of the ocean to advance immediate, transformational steps to protect ocean health and address the climate crisis. It also describes new actions on the administration’s ocean-climate priorities, including efforts to advance climate solutions, promote environmental justice, support healthy communities, and ensure a robust and sustainable ocean economy.

Wave crashing as viewed from the side.

Five Students Selected for Marine Energy Graduate Research Program: WPTO and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education announced the five students in this year's cohort for the Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program. These students will undertake research to advance the understanding and development of marine energy resources through work with DOE national laboratories and other government and industry partners. 

Ocean Energy Systems Releases 2022 Annual Report: Ocean Energy Systems published its 2022 annual report, which showcases the organization’s key achievements and recent outcomes from collaborative efforts around the world. The report features a section on marine energy activities in the United States, written by WPTO’s Elaine Buck and Tim Ramsey. It highlights the office’s strategy, funding programs, and research and development activities, including current and future deployments.

One Year Later, Finalists Reflect On the Waves to Water Prize: To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Waves to Water Prize’s final event, WPTO asked the four finalists—Oneka Technologies, WATER BROS, MarkZero SeaPower, and Project 816—to reflect on the experiences, impacts, and inspirations the prize ignited. The finalists shared insights from the competition and what they’re doing 1 year later.

NREL Study Breaks Down Marine Energy Materials: Multiyear research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) focused on rapidly aging different materials commonly used in marine energy devices. Researchers tested more than 300 material specimens to learn which ones could survive the longest in marine energy technologies. The team recently published a summary report that explains the study’s methods and major findings, including which materials degraded more quickly than expected, why some strange phenomena will need further study, and how this effort could help improve future materials testing. 

PNNL Scientist Selected for National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Katie Arkema was selected to join a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine planning committee focused on identifying knowledge gaps between public health and the conservation of natural systems to support more resilient communities. At PNNL, Arkema works to identify innovative solutions to support the energy and resilience needs of coastal communities. 

From Holes to Coal to Tides: Patrick O’Byrne Details his Journey to Clean Energy: Patrick O’Byrne, an NREL intern, started his career repairing generators that transformed almost every kind of energy source—including coal, natural gas, and nuclear power—into electricity. But that wasn’t enough for the young environmentalist. So, he launched a career in clean energy, working with NREL and the University of New Hampshire’s Living Bridge project to help bring budding tidal energy technologies to the grid.

Teaming Up for Marine Energy: Developing and bringing new technologies to market that harness the power in waves, tides, and river and ocean currents can be a long, winding road. That’s why marine energy developer Triton Systems, Inc. (Triton) was eager to test a new component of its wave energy converter through the TEAMER program. Triton had recently incorporated new design features to minimize the effects of biofouling on its device. Preventing biofouling—the natural accumulation of plants and animals on devices in water—is key to ensuring devices’ longevity. Learn more about Triton’s work with a team of PNNL researchers, and apply for RFTS 10 by July 7, 2023. 

PRIMRE Team Continues to Drive Forward Marine Energy Technologies and Research: Read about some of the Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy’s (PRIMRE) team’s latest work and accomplishments:

  • Marine Energy Performance Metrics: The PRIMRE team has launched new performance metrics to adequately analyze marine energy devices and advanced technologies toward commercialization.
  • Lessons Learned from Marine Energy Experts: The team conducted a series of interviews with marine energy subject matter experts to collect and share lessons learned from past and present marine energy research, development, and deployment projects in the United States.
  • Updates to the Marine Energy Atlas: Recent updates to NREL’s Marine Energy Atlas include new data and a revamped user interface. This allows users to quickly find and utilize information related to projects that are in planning, operational, or dormant phases to utilize wave, tidal, salinity gradient, and ocean thermal energy conversion technologies. 

A Rising Tide: Women in Water Power: For Women’s History Month in March, WPTO showcased stories from six water power champions who are on the frontlines of building an equitable and just energy future. Learn about their work, advice they wish they had earlier in their careers, and their thoughts on ways to create more diversity in the water power workforce.

WPTO and NREL Solicit Feedback to Help Inform Future Marine Energy Technologies: WPTO and NREL are looking for input to inform updating levelized cost of energy metrics for tidal and ocean current energy systems. The information collected will help prioritize WPTO research and development funding to advance marine energy technologies. Feedback will be used to update baseline estimates and future targets of the levelized cost of energy for government reporting purposes and inform WPTO’s strategy and goals. Reach out to Elena Baca at Elena.Baca@nrel.gov to provide feedback.

Events

Introduction to Water Power

April 24, 2023, 3–4:30 p.m. ET, Online

Sandia National Laboratories water researchers will host Introduction to Water Power, designed for everyone from students thinking of a career in marine energy to educators seeking resources to anyone just looking to learn more about the industry. The webinar will feature researchers sharing personal experiences in how they became interested in water power, what paths they took, and what they are working on now. The webinar will conclude with a Q&A session and the opportunity to learn more about academic opportunities and fellowships.

Register for the event. 

InDEEP Webinar Series

InDEEP awards up to $2.3 million in cash prizes to teams that use innovative methods to identify successful DEEC-Tec components and materials that show the greatest techno-economic potential for wave energy to contribute to grid-scale power systems. Join the prize team for a series of webinars as they share additional information about the competition and answer your questions. The deadline for submission in the first phase of the prize is Aug. 25, 2023. Register for the webinars:

Marine Energy and Hydropower Collegiate Competitions at Waterpower Week 2023

May 7–10, 2023, Washington, D.C.

WPTO, NREL, the Hydropower Foundation, and the National Hydropower Association have partnered to bring more than 150 students to the WPTO-funded Hydropower and Marine Energy collegiate competitions at Waterpower Week. The final events for the 2023 competitions will take place alongside the conference, allowing attendees the opportunity to meet the next generation of the water power industry. Multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students will present the results of their year-long projects to a panel of judges, participate in opening and closing ceremonies for the competition, and network with conference attendees. Those attending Waterpower Week 2023 are encouraged to meet the students and help inspire them to pursue a career in water power. Attendees can also join WPTO and other government agencies for “Office Hours” 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET on May 9, 2023, in the Congressional Ballroom. 

Register for the event.

In Case You Missed It

Nanogenerator Harnesses the Renewable Energy of Open Ocean Waves: Zhiqun Deng was interviewed about work at PNNL focused on developing and demonstrating prototypes of triboelectric nanogenerator systems (TENGs). TENGs can be used to power instruments (like temperature or pressure sensors) aboard hurricane and tsunami detection stations or water-quality monitoring systems. Read more about TENGs and this project in WPTO’s 2021–2022 Accomplishment Report.

Ocean Observing Prize Team Selected as TEAMER Recipient: TEAMER selected the Wave Powered Oceanographic Gliders team as a technical support recipient to further advance the marine energy technology the team developed as part of the Ocean Observing Prize. The Wave Powered Oceanographic Gliders team will test its device at Sandia National Laboratories’ lake facility. After completing the TEAMER testing campaign, experts will evaluate the team as part of the prize’s SPLASH-C Contest. 

Video: WPTO Is Helping Power the Blue Economy: WPTO’s Powering the Blue Economy™ initiative is a meaningful first step toward protecting, understanding, and leveraging the immense power and promise of the ocean to help achieve collective economic, social, and environmental goals. Learn more about the initiative and how WPTO is advancing marine energy technology sustainably.

Sandia’s SWEPT Lab Offers Specialized Testing for Marine Energy Industry: In 2017, Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) designed and built the Sandia Wave Energy Power Take-off (SWEPT) Lab to test wave energy converter power take-off systems. This lab allows developers to evaluate devices before testing at sea. Testing at the lab has increased device efficiencies and developers’ confidence that their designs will work properly when deployed. 

Marine and Hydrokinetic Toolkit Version 6 Now Available: NREL, Sandia, and PNNL released the sixth version of the Marine and Hydrokinetic Toolkit (MHKiT). MHKiT 6 features a new module for combined oceanic and meteorological resource data analysis, analysis capabilities from acoustic doppler current profiler and acoustic doppler velocimeter data, and updated wave resource calculations that adhere to International Electrotechnical Commission technical guidelines. MHKiT is an open-source knowledge hub that provides developers with the Python and MATLAB code needed to analyze how well marine energy technologies perform in ocean and river sites. 

WPTO Awards $25,000 to Texas A&M University in the EnergyTech University Prize: WPTO awarded the water power bonus prize to a team from Texas A&M University as part of the EnergyTech University Prize. The team was awarded $25,000 for their concept focused on using magnetic gears as an alternative to mechanical gears and direct-drive generators to enable affordable, reliable wave energy technologies.

Social Spotlight

Devices floating next to a pier just off a beach.

WPTO on LinkedIn — April 14, 2023 

This documentary is making waves! 🌊Check it out and learn how the Waves to Water Prize is making a difference in advancing wave energy desalination systems! Check it out to learn more about the prize 👉

 

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