Tuesday, January 8
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected $25 million in research projects for next-generation marine energy devices. Funded by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Water Power Technologies Office, these 12 innovative projects will reduce capital costs and accelerate the innovation cycle by testing new concepts. Marine energy includes ocean wave power, tidal, and river/ocean current devices that convert movement of water into electricity.
“Advancing next-generation marine energy will help the U.S. ensure a secure, reliable, and enduring supply of American energy,” said Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes. “These early-stage research and development projects are key to the development of water power as part of DOE’s ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy.”
As a global leader in marine energy research, DOE supports its potential to provide reliable power at grid scale, expand the resilience of our nation’s energy systems, provide economic development opportunities, and revitalize coastal and port infrastructure.
Selections were made across three topic areas, outlined below. The first two aim to address fundamental scientific and engineering challenges of generating power from dynamic, low-velocity and high-density waves and currents. The third topic area is targeted to provide better information to reduce the costs and time to permit projects.