Events

Join NREL at these water power events and explore research, tools, opportunities, and collaborations within marine energy and hydropower.

Marine Energy Collegiate Competition

May 23–27, 2022

Seventeen teams will compete at the U.S. Department of Energy's 2022 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: Powering the Blue Economy, which is administered by NREL, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office.

The competition challenges interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students to propose unique solutions to the burgeoning marine energy industry. Teams had nearly a year to create a business plan and develop, design, and test renewable energy technologies that support resilient coastal communities and provide power at sea.

Opening Ceremony and Judges Panel

May 23, 2022, 12–1 p.m. ET, Zoom

Hear from representatives from the U. S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office and NREL and learn about the panel of industry judges.

Final Event Pitches

May 24–26, 2022, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. ET, Zoom

Meet the 17 student-led teams at the undergraduate and graduate level present their innovative concepts to advance marine energy, and get inspired by the burgeoning marine energy industry and the promising workforce behind it.

Award Ceremony

May 27, 2022, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. ET, Zoom

Celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of the 2022 competing teams as the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition organizing team announces the first-, second-, and third-place winners as well as awardees in individual categories.

Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference

May 24–26, 2022

Join NREL Senior Scientist Levi Kilcher, who will be presenting during a 3-day conference to share ideas and information about Alaska's energy future and the intersection of economic development, long-term sustainability, and energy independence.

NREL at Hydrovision International

July 11–14, 2022, Denver, Colorado

Hydrovision International is an annual, week-long conference for hydropower professionals interested in all aspects of the industry, including power producers, small hydro, pumped storage, dam safety, government agencies, industry associations, service and product suppliers, regulators, lawyers, original equipment manufacturers and engineering, procurement and construction firms.

NREL's Flatirons Campus Tour

July 11, 2022, 8:30–10:30 a.m. MT, NREL's Flatirons Campus

NREL's Flatirons Campus hosts research into a variety of issues related to hydropower, including a focus on how hydropower is vital to achieving a low-carbon grid and helping create a clean energy future.

The tour at Flatirons will include a few specific labs/demonstrations.

Net Zero World Workshop

July 11, 2022, 8:30–11:30 a.m. MT

This workshop brings together a diverse panel of speakers and participation from all corners of the hydropower industry to offer perspectives on the future of hydropower and pumped storage hydropower in a net-zero-carbon-emissions world. Hydropower and pumped storage hydropower have long been sources of low-carbon electricity, but broader changes to electricity supply and demand could create new challenges and opportunities, and the hydropower industry’s response to these will shape its future. New connections and shared ideas will foster a cooperative approach to understanding and facilitating hydropower’s role.

After a brief panel discussion, the group will dive into focused breakout discussions. Then we’ll come together to share and summarize the conversations. The results of the discussions will be synthesized into a workshop summary report.

Register for the workshop. The workshop is free if registrants select the “Event Only” option at the beginning of the registration process; otherwise standard conference fees apply.

Hydropower Workforce Workshop

July 11, 2022, 1:30–4 p.m. MT

Sponsored by NREL and featuring NREL's Elise DeGeorge, Arielle Cardinal, and Jennifer Daw among other speakers and experts in the field, this workshop will discuss workforce challenges in the hydropower industry, such as employers' difficulty finding well-qualified workers and students' limited awareness of or interest in the industry and its career paths. The workshop will also discuss the growing wave of retirement and strategies for succession planning, knowledge transfer, and innovation as well as ways to help hydropower promote diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the workforce.

At its core, the workshop will be anchored in the current state of the hydropower workforce as told by NREL’s updated hydropower workforce report; prior survey efforts of academia, students, and industry; and associated career mapping efforts. From this update, organizers will facilitate discussion around three key topics in hydropower: programmatic opportunities; public engagement, education, and rebranding; and ways to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Register for the workshop. The workshop is free if registrants select the “Event Only” option at the beginning of the registration process; otherwise standard conference fees apply.

NREL at the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition

Oct. 30–Nov. 3, 2022, Columbus, Ohio (abstracts due March 15, 2022; papers due April 27, 2022)

Two NREL researchers are inviting others to join Track 8 Energy Topic Area 15 Wind and Water Power at the 2022 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. The focus will be on recent advances in the design, modeling, and control for wind energy, water power, or hybrid power technologies. Selected papers will be invited for potential co-publication in special editions of the Journal of Energy Resources and Technology or the Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage.