Marine energy projects garner DOE funding
Department of Energy (DOE) awarded Tuesday $25 million in support of 12 research projects focused on next-generation marine energy devices.
The allotment was made through the agency’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Water Power Technologies Office and backs projects that would 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 the movement of water into electricity.
Three topic areas were considered concerning the project selection process, officials said, with the first two addressing fundamental scientific and engineering challenges of generating power from dynamic, low-velocity and high-density waves and currents while the third topic area targeted information to reduce the costs and time to permit projects.
Among the selected endeavors is Oscilla Power, Inc. of Seattle, Wash., which is slated to demonstrate the effectiveness of its wave energy converter through open-ocean scaled testing in partnership with the University of Maine. Atargis Energy Corporation of Pueblo, Colo., will advance its wave energy converter through numerical simulations at the model scale, as well as 1:20 scale wave tank tests. Littoral Power Systems, Inc of Fall River, Mass., will enhance its turbine design to increase power, reduce costs and test a fully integrated sub-scale prototype that is ready for pilot site installation.
“Advancing next-generation marine energy will help the U.S. ensure a secure, reliable, and enduring supply of American energy,” Under Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes said. “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.”
