NREL Water Power Newsletter, The Current, Winter 2025
In this issue, learn about NREL’s Fiscal Year 2024 water power accomplishments, explore the REDi Island app, catch up on hydropower and marine energy news, and more.
This quarterly newsletter highlights the latest from NREL's Water Power Program.
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2024 in Review
NREL Projects Featured in Water Power Technologies Office Annual Accomplishments Report
We are celebrating the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) water power research highlights in the Water Power Accomplishments Report: Fiscal Year 2024. In 2024, NREL’s water power research embraced a wide range of disciplines and technologies to help advance hydropower, marine energy, and more. This report dives into some of our biggest accomplishments from the past year. Explore the full report to learn more.
2024 Top News Stories and Downloaded Publications
News Stories
A lot happened this past year. To recap, we rounded up our top stories from 2024 in one can’t-miss list:
- New NREL Report Explores the Benefits and Challenges of Floating Photovoltaic Projects
- University Partnership Envisions the Next Generation of Flexible Wave Energy
- Water Research Hub Earns Five More Years of Funding
- NREL Significantly Engages With the Hydropower Industry at HYDROVISION
- YouTube Video: Bringing the Ocean to the Rockies With NREL’s Motion Platform
- NREL Paper Wins Best Paper Award at the 42nd International Conference on Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering
- NREL Projects Featured in Water Power Technologies Office Accomplishments Report
- NREL at Clean Currents
- Tidal Energy is Coming to Alaska. But How Much?
- ARIES Allows Users To Integrate Water Power Resources Into Grid Simulations
Publications
NREL’s water power researchers had another busy year of publishing groundbreaking and impactful research. See our list of the top 10 downloaded publications from calendar year 2024:
- Hydropower Supply Chain Gap Analysis
- AquaPV: Regulatory and Environmental Considerations for Floating Photovoltaic Projects Located on Federally Controlled Reservoirs in the United States
- Hydropower Investment and Public-Private Ecosystem Assessment
- Evaluating the Impact of Tidal Energy in the Cook Inlet on Alaska’s Railbelt Electrical Grid
- Marine Energy Technology Development Risk Management Framework
- How Today’s Hydropower Impacts Tomorrow’s Grid: Counterfactual Scenarios Showing Grid Impacts if Hydropower Goes Away
- Evaluation of New Opportunities for Marine Energy To Power the Blue Economy: Green Hydrogen and Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
- Report on the Fourth Marine Energy Instrumentation and Data Workshop
- Structural Characterization of Deployed Thermoplastic and Thermoset Composite Tidal Turbine Blades
- Accelerated Lifetime Testing of Main Shaft Seals for Tidal Turbine Rotors
What To Watch
The Journey of HERO WEC
The hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis wave energy converter, or HERO WEC, is turning salt water into drinking water, all while pushing the small-scale wave-powered desalination industry forward. See how an interdisciplinary team that spans the United States has created, deployed, and shared insights into NREL's first ocean-deployed marine energy desalination device.
Cross-Cutting News
Completed REDi Island App
The Renewable Energy Discovery (REDi) Island web-based app is now fully unlocked, giving users access to every corner of the vibrant, virtual, renewable-energy-powered island. With all four regions now open, the app features over a dozen renewable energy technology waystations, along with countless points of interest, videos, and educational resources designed to engage, educate, and inspire curiosity about alternative energy. Developed by NREL, REDi Island features hydropower, marine energy, and wind technologies, showcasing real-world applications and potential career pathways. Whether you're a researcher, educator, student, or sustainability enthusiast, REDi Island invites you to embark on a journey of discovery where resilience and resource efficiency pave the way toward a brighter future. Immerse yourself in the cutting-edge world of REDi Island to discover the vast potential of renewable energy.
Visit NREL’s Flatirons Campus To See Enhanced Visitor Experience
A new study in the journal Solar Energy, authored by NREL researchers, demonstrates the significant solar energy generation potential of floating photovoltaics. According to the study, deploying floating solar on federally controlled reservoirs could supply affordable energy to power approximately 100 million U.S. homes each year. Check out this video on YouTube to learn more about the potential of solar photovoltaics.
Video Shows How the Cybersecurity Value-at-Risk Framework Can Help Secure Hydropower Facilities
Researchers from NREL have released an updated version of the web-based Cybersecurity Value-at-Risk Framework(CVF) tool. The framework provides an industry-accessible, self-guided, automated tool that will allow hydropower plant managers to identify best practices and make sound cybersecurity investment decisions for their system. Watch the video on YouTube to learn more about the CVF.
Take a Look at NREL’s Hydropower Emulation Platform
Field validation for new and emerging hydropower technologies is risky, expensive, and time-consuming. However, with NREL’s Hydropower Emulation Platform, users can develop and validate next-generation controls for hydropower applications under various grid conditions before they are ever connected to the grid. Leveraging NREL’s ARIES platform, the Hydropower Emulation Platform emulates hydropower in a controlled, real-world environment, mimicking how hydropower plants pair up with energy storage and other energy technologies to provide more reliable energy to a grid. Watch this video on YouTube to learn more about the Hydropower Emulation Platform.
Marine Energy News
Updated Risk Management Framework Supports Marine Energy Technology Development
NREL recently updated the Marine Energy Risk Management Framework, which was developed in 2015 to help manage risks faced by the marine energy industry and advance the development of new technologies. The revised framework supports the advancement of new marine energy technologies and increases their chances of success by helping developers identify, manage, and respond to risks throughout the development cycle. Covering projects of any technology readiness level or technology performance level and all risk types, the framework will be used for any projects from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office that require system validation in open water.
NREL Report Shares Marine Energy Data Acquisition Best Practices and Cost Considerations
Device validation—which relies on high-quality data acquisition systems—is a vital step in advancing marine energy technologies through technology readiness levels. A new NREL report, Data Acquisition and Control for Marine Energy Devices: Cost Considerations, outlines key considerations for developers when designing a data acquisition system and provides a foundation for estimating data acquisition project expenses using NREL’s own Modular Ocean Data Acquisition System (MODAQ) as a model. The report highlights the crucial role of front-end engineering design, emphasizing the importance of developing a comprehensive and detailed data acquisition plan before initiating device testing. By planning ahead, developers can maximize the return on their investment and ensure efficient use of both time and resources. Check out this video on YouTube to learn more about MODAQ.
Lessons Learned From Wave-Powered Desalination Device Deployments Help Guide Next Iteration
Aquatic Acrobatics: University Collaboration Visualizes the Future of Flexible Wave Energy
Recently, inside SWEL at NREL’s Flatirons Campus, Isabel Hess prepared to perturb a flexible WEC (flexWEC) prototype from its equilibrium position. Hess is a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering at the University of Florida who primarily studies underwater soft robotics through the university’s Fluids and Adaptive Structures Lab. She is also a fellow of DOE’s Marine Energy Graduate Student Research Program, which provides access to experts, resources, facilities, and funding support, including a monthly stipend and tuition reimbursement. See how Hess and her team are pioneering visual diagnostics to characterize flexible wave energy devices.
Newly Released OpenFAST Tutorials for Researchers and Developers
As part of the current turbine modeling project communications work, NREL released two tutorial videos on the NREL Learning YouTube channel related to installing and running OpenFAST. OpenFAST is a powerful, open-source tool designed to help marine turbine developers simulate energy generation, predict rotor loads, and analyze floating platform motions. The Installing OpenFAST Tutorial makes it easy to get started by guiding you through the installation process on Mac and Windows. The Running OpenFAST Tutorial explains how to navigate files, execute regression tests, and ensure that your OpenFAST setup is ready to power your simulations.
How NREL Is Playing a Key Role in Bringing Marine Energy to One Small Alaskan Community
Industry
partners often rely on NREL’s far-reaching expertise and capabilities
to advance their energy technologies. A new feature story demonstrates
those capabilities by tracing the support NREL has provided to one
partner—the Ocean Renewable Power Company—over the last 13 years. Follow
the journey of NREL’s partnership with the Ocean Renewable Power
Company as they work in the remote community of False Pass, Alaska, to
install tidal turbines that can produce reliable energy and eliminate
the need for costly diesel fuel.
Prizes and Competitions
Power at Sea Prize Announces First Round of Winning Marine Energy Innovators
The first phase of the American-Made Powering the Blue Economy™: Power at Sea Prize is complete, with 20 teams receiving $10,000 each for their innovative concepts that use marine energy to power ocean-based activities. The winning teams proposed a diverse set of ideas, including marine-powered aquaculture, recharging stations for autonomous underwater vehicles, and artificial reefs with embedded WECs. In the next phase, teams will prepare their innovations for further development after the prize and compete for a share of the $1.5 million prize pool. The prize is supported by DOE's Water Power Technologies Office in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
Beneath the Surface: Salman Husain
In the latest Beneath the Surface profile, researcher Salman Husain talks about how his love for complex dynamics problems and interest in mechanical engineering led him to focus on the open-ended problem of wave energy. He began his tenure at NREL as an intern and was hired as a full-time researcher on NREL’s marine energy team to create simulations and numerical models for WECs. His models help other marine energy researchers predict how their devices will perform in real-world conditions, ultimately helping optimize WEC design and efficiency.
Events and Opportunities
Centre for Energy Advancement Through Technological Innovation
March 24–28, 2025, Palm Springs, California
NREL in the News
NREL report on generation potential of floating solar:
U.S. Reservoirs Could Host Up to 1,042 GW of Floating Solar, PV Magazine
Potential Floating Solar Generation Is ‘Ample,’ Widespread Across U.S. Reservoirs, PV Magazine
Floating Solar Panels Could Support U.S. Energy Goals, Morningstar
Floating Solar Panels Could Support U.S. Energy Goals, Globe Newswire
Floating Solar in Federally Controlled Hydropower Reservoirs Has ‘Surprisingly Large’ Potential, Hydro Review
Energy Transition Today – Floating Solar Panels: Powering Millions Amid Environmental Challenges, Yahoo! Finance
Floating Solar Has Massive Potential in the U.S., Canary Media
Floating Solar Panels Have Potential in America’s Energy Future, Environment America
Study Highlights the Potential for Floating Solar Panels, iHLS
100 Million Homes A Year: The U.S. Is About To Unveil a Groundbreaking Floating Solar Power Technology, JasonDeegan
NREL research informs the potential of wave energy:
Could Wave Energy Become the New Nuclear?, Forbes
DOE funding of projects on hydropower’s ability to respond to changing demand on the electric grid:
DOE Invests Almost $15 Million for Hydro Grid-Balancing Projects, Hydro Review
U.S. DOE Invests Nearly US $15 Million To Enhance Hydropower’s Ability To Support Electricity Grids, Energy Global
PacWave set to begin open water testing of wave energy technologies:
How To Turn Ocean Waves Into Renewable Energy, Yahoo! News
How To Turn Ocean Waves Into Renewable Energy, ABC News
TEAMER program approves funding for 15 marine energy projects:
U.S. Research Program Awards $1.9 Million to Marine Energy Projects, Offshore Energy
Missouri researcher awarded DOE grant to improve hydropower efficiency:
S&T Researcher Awarded $750,000 DOE Grant Focused on Hydropower, Renewable Energy Magazine
Missouri S&T Researcher Secures $750,000 DOE Grant To Improve Hydropower Efficiency, International Water Power and Dam Construction
University of Michigan receives DOE funding to work with NREL to improve wave energy devices:
$5 Million To Improve Testing, Durability, and Noise Levels of Wave Energy Devices, Offshore Wind, University of Michigan News
Cargo ship uses wave energy to produce green ammonia fuel while at sea:
Purpose-Built Ship Deploys Wave Energy To Produce Green Ammonia Fuel at Sea, Clean Technica
NREL’s Stuart Cohen talked to Yale University about pumped storage hydropower:
Pumped Hydro Systems Could Help Solve the Challenge of Renewable Energy Storage, Yale Climate Connections
Publications
See all the latest publications, or explore these featured publications.
Floating Photovoltaic Technical Potential: A Novel Geospatial Approach on Federal Reservoirs in the United States, Solar Energy (2025)
In-Situ Blade Strain Measurements and Fatigue Analysis of a Cross-Flow Turbine Operating in a Tidal Flow, Renewable Energy (2025)
Hygrothermal Aging and Recycling Effects on Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Recyclable Thermoplastic Glass Fiber Composites, Polymer Composites (2024)
HERO WEC V1: Design and Experimental Data Collection Efforts, NREL Technical Report (2024)
Marine Energy Commercialization Review: Evaluation of the Transition From Public to Private Capital, NREL Technical Report (2024)
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Last Updated May 1, 2025