Office Announces FOA for Projects Supporting Marine and Hydrokinetic Research and Development
The Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) under the Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced up to $12 million in available funding to support innovation in marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies that harness power from waves and currents (ocean, river, and tidal). With more than 50% of the U.S. population living within 50 miles of coastlines, America has the potential to advance a new technology and develop an energy industry that will encourage job growth, domestic manufacturing, and seaport revitalization.
This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports innovative technologies capable of generating reliable and cost-effective electricity from U.S. water resources. It targets MHK technologies that can be deployed in markets with high energy costs in the near-term, while supporting next-generation technologies that have the potential to be cost competitive with other energy generation technologies in the longer term.
The funding opportunity will support projects in the following topic areas:
Wave energy converters (WEC) systems advancement: Funding will support the development and testing of scaled, yet fully operational, WEC devices in open water that show high potential to succeed commercially in large utility scale markets and compete with other forms of energy generation in the longer term.
Open topic for MHK technology development: Applicants can propose projects addressing their most important MHK technology development problems. The WPTO encourages applications in wave energy, tidal, river in-stream, or ocean current energy.
The WPTO hosted an informational webinar detailing this FOA on December 20.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Go to water.energy.gov to learn more about our WPTO’s funding opportunities and efforts to develop innovative wave energy technologies.