Unites States makes available $10 million for lab-led marine energy research

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has launched a $10.5 million call for new marine energy projects, expected to advance the research and development of this renewable energy industry.

The research will span across six United States’ national laboratories, and is expected to boost the role of marine energy in achieving bot national and local clean energy goals.

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) will lead these projects.

A total of 11 marine energy projects will cover four main topic areas for this call, including Power at Sea; New Remote Coastal Community Work – Microgrid Application; Pioneer Array Test Article Design and Development, Phase I; and Environmental Monitoring Campaign.

The four of the marine energy projects, under the New Remote Coastal Community Work -Microgrid Application and Environmental Monitoring Campaign topics, are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, while the remaining marine energy projects are funded through WPTO’s Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations, the US DOE noted.

The projects announced also include $2.7 million in marine energy ‘Sapling projects’ topic, which is a program developed by WPTO to encourage and provide short term funding to new and innovative research ideas in marine energy at the DOE national laboratories.

The call follows the October 2022 announcement from the US DOE about the plan to provide $35 million in funding to advance river current and tidal energy systems, which is the largest ever made for these renewable energy technologies in the United States so far.

Beforehand, the department also released a $10.3 million funding opportunity to accelerate the development and testing of renewable marine energy technologies with a focus on wave and ocean current resources.

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