Upcoming Deadlines
Looking for more detailed information on the latest funding opportunities and events related to water power? Subscribe to The Water Wire! Find the next issue in your inbox on Oct. 9, 2024.
Announcements
OCED issued a notice of intent to provide up to $400 million in funding to spur innovative, community-focused clean energy solutions, including hydropower, in rural and remote areas across the United States. The funding opportunity will support the deployment of a variety of commercially available clean energy technologies, demonstrating their viability and benefits to rural and remote residents and ultimately encouraging widespread adoption. OCED plans to fund 16 to 69 projects with funding ranging from $2 million to $50 million each. The funding opportunity is expected to open in fall 2024.
DOE's Grid Deployment Office selected nearly 300 hydroelectric improvement projects across 33 states to receive up to $430 million in incentives for upgrading facilities, which have been operating for an average of 79 years. Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and managed by the Grid Deployment Office, the Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives program will enhance dam safety, improve grid resilience at 215 sites, and protect 6,000 existing jobs at hydropower facilities, as well as contractors and vendors.
DOE's Office of Technology Transitions announced its intent to issue a call for proposals from DOE national laboratories, plants, and sites for the Fiscal Year 25 Core Laboratory Infrastructure for Market Readiness lab call. Funded through the Technology Commercialization Fund, this opportunity aims to improve U.S. energy competitiveness and security by accelerating the commercialization of critical clean energy technologies to market. DOE anticipates releasing the lab call in October 2024 and awarding up to $36.8 million across six topics.
NSF is seeking applications for its ERI program, which aims to enhance engineering research capacity by supporting new academic investigators who have not received significant federal funding. Working with WPTO, NSF included two special topics focused on water power: Marine Energy and the Blue Economy and Hydropower and Climate Change Impacts. Funding recipients are eligible to receive up to $200,000 over 24 months and must submit applications by Oct. 9, 2024.
OCED opened an opportunity for up to $100 million in funding to support pilot-scale energy storage demonstration projects. The funding will focus on non-lithium technologies, long-duration systems, and stationary storage applications. OCED aims to use this funding to move energy storage technologies closer to commercial viability and utility-scale deployment. Concept papers are due by Oct. 16, 2024.
WPTO and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are offering a technical collaboration opportunity for industry to develop innovative hydropower technologies using advanced materials and manufacturing. Selected participants will gain access to DOE's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility to validate and refine untested ideas that could enhance the performance and sustainability of hydropower technologies. Interested applicants must submit a brief concept abstract, and proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis until funds are expended.
DOE's Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program, through ENERGYWERX, will award $11.2 million to up to 25 utilities to pilot innovative solutions for managing renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV) charging interconnection and energization queues. One of the tracks focuses on midscale projects, including small hydropower, with $9.2 million allocated for optimizing generator interconnections. This initiative will help utilities and public utility commissions understand the real-world capabilities of new software and workflow automation solutions and accelerate their adoption to enable rapid deployment of more energy storage, EV charging infrastructure, and other clean energy assets to the grid.
Project Updates and Stories
A recent WPTO report makes actionable recommendations to address five gaps in the domestic hydropower supply chain. A robust domestic supply chain is critical to support new construction and upgrades, refurbishments, and relicensing activities at existing hydropower facilities. The in-depth report, Hydropower Supply Chain Gap Analysis, draws on feedback from hydropower industry stakeholders and considers various sectors of the supply chain, from mining and extraction to installation and construction.
DOE's 2024 U.S. Energy & Employment Jobs Report is a comprehensive summary of national-level, state-level, and county-level energy jobs, reported by industry, technology, and region with data on unionization rates, demographics, and employer perspectives on growth and hiring. The report showed that jobs in clean energy grew at more than twice the rate of the overall U.S. labor market in 2023. Learn more about these findings, including those specific to the hydropower sector.
Madeline Nelson works as a project manager in an essential but little-known field—rope access geohazard mitigation. In this role, she oversees and often joins a team of expert climbers who don harnesses and hard hats and scale rock walls, dams, and other structures to prevent landslides, catch falling rocks, and repair critical infrastructure, like hydropower dams.
|
Anuj Sanghvi's engineering passion began in childhood when he dismantled toys and electronics to explore their inner workings. This curiosity guided him to a career as a radio frequency engineer in India and later to the United States, where he earned a master's degree in electrical and network engineering. Now at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sanghvi focuses on protecting renewable energy systems from cyberthreats. Discover the optimism, resourcefulness, and passion driving his impactful work.
Events
TODAY! Sept. 18, 2024, 2–3 p.m. ET, Webinar
Floating photovoltaics (PV) are a nascent technology in the United States mainly focused on humanmade water bodies. During this webinar, researchers from the Idaho National Laboratory and NREL project team will provide an overview of and share results from the project "AquaPV: Foundational Analysis and Industry Guidance on Floating PV for Reservoirs."
Sept. 19, 2024, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. ET, Webinar
Join staff from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and NREL for a 90-minute webinar on the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). USDA staff will discuss its funding opportunities for rural small businesses and cooperatives with a focus on REAP, and NREL staff will provide an overview of how hydropower technologies can best contribute to rural businesses. USDA and NREL staff will then discuss tips on submitting a successful REAP application related to hydropower. The webinar will include time for Q&A.
Oct. 7–10, 2024, Portland, Oregon
See WPTO and national laboratory staff at Clean Currents 2024! Aimed at bringing together professionals from across the hydropower and marine energy industries, Clean Currents will facilitate collaboration, encourage innovation, and highlight advancements in the water power sector. Find WPTO at booth 1145.
Jan. 27–31, 2025 (Hydropower Program), Virtual
Registration will open in the fall for WPTO's 2025 Peer Review. The purpose of peer review is to evaluate WPTO-funded projects based on their contributions to the office's mission and goals, track progress made against stated objectives, and assess the office’s overall management and performance.
In Case You Missed It
In honor of National Hydropower Day on August 24, WPTO showcased hydropower's diversity through the creation of a hydropower lookbook. This resource plays a key role in the electric grid today and will continue to do so as it evolves to incorporate more variable renewable energy generation. Learn about the many types of hydropower facilities and technologies that sustain communities across the United States.
|
Follow along on the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy's Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook channels for more water power content each week.
Making a Splash in the News
-
Novel ORNL-Led Manufacturing Effort Focuses on Large Parts for Clean Energy in Hydropower, ORNL, Greg Cunningham, Sept. 5, 2024
-
DOE Report Identifies Solutions to Gaps in U.S. Hydropower Supply Chain, American Public Power Association, Paul Ciampoli, Aug. 19, 2024
-
ORNL Wins 14 R&D 100 Research Awards, ORNL, Sara Shoemaker, Aug. 9, 2024
|
