US Energy Department launches $22M funding call for MHK projects

 
The US Department of Energy (DoE) has issued a funding opportunity to advance marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy systems and improve environmental monitoring technologies that will help minimize environmental impacts.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) expects to fund up to 10 projects that address technology development and demonstration, as well as market acceleration and deployment.

The funding opportunity will support projects that:

1. Integrate next-generation MHK hardware and software technologies into existing wave and current energy conversion systems and demonstrate improved systems in full-scale, open-water tests for a one-year period,
2. Design, test, and validate environmental monitoring technologies that quantify the impacts of MHK systems in marine settings, such as acoustics, electromagnetic fields created by MHK devices and subsea cables, and interactions between these devices and marine animals.

For the first topic area, EERE plans to make three awards with a maximum value of $5.35 million per award, for a total of $16.05 million.

EERE intends to grant up to seven funding awards for the second topic area ranging from $750,000 to $1.1 million, for a total of $5.95 million.

The applicants must submit the concept paper by March 31, 2016, with the full application submission deadline set for May 26, 2016.