US DOE unveils 15 Phase II winners of InDEEP wave energy competition

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has revealed the 15 winning teams in Phase II of the American-Made Innovating Distributed Embedded Energy Prize (InDEEP).

Each team received $80,000, totaling $1.2 million in prizes, for demonstrating distributed embedded energy converter technology (DEEC-Tec) concepts, which harness ocean wave energy.

DEEC-Tec concepts combine many small energy converters, typically less than a few centimeters, into a single, larger ocean wave energy converter (WEC). This system could convert energy from various ocean locations and wave types, said WPTO.

In Phase II, teams conducted proof-of-concept tests by designing, building, and testing single DEEC prototypes that could be tailored for wave energy conversion. The winning teams showcased the technical potential of their concepts and engaged with the InDEEP community and technical experts, said WPTO.

“This prize unites innovators across diverse technology sectors, including those not traditionally focused on marine energy, to advance research into unique wave energy technologies,” said WPTO Acting Director, Matthew Grosso. 

“The technologies demonstrated in this phase showcased remarkable diversity and creativity and hold tremendous potential to evolve into systems that could support the electric grid with a dependable source of renewable energy.”

Phase II submissions displayed diverse technical expertise with five broad approaches to harness wave energy, including piezoelectric-based transducers, which produce an electric charge when a force like pressure is applied to them, and induction-based energy transducers, which use changes in magnetic fields to produce an electric current. 

The winners of Phase II are Artimus Robotics from Boulder, Colorado; Condensed Wave Matter from Madison, Wisconsin; EBB:Flow from Braintree, Massachusetts; Elysium Robotics from Austin, Texas; FluxMEMS from Portland, Oregon; Kiri DEEC from Houghton, Michigan; PECWEC from Storrs, Connecticut; and The Piezogami Team from Blacksburg, Virginia.

The winners of Phase II also include Pittsburgh Coastal Energy from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; PSU_EnergyHarvesting from State College, Pennsylvania; Soft Energy from Ithaca, New York; Streaming Energy from La Jolla, California; WaterBros Development from Charlotte, North Carolina; Wave Grid from Galveston, Texas; and WaveHarvest from Dallas, Texas.

According to WPTO, Phase II competitors received support to help them learn about wave energy topics for patent development, aside from commercialization support, technology performance level evaluation guidance, and insights from marine energy experts. 

Winning teams will move to Phase III, integrating their DEEC prototypes into a larger metamaterial. This phase will include further evaluation and testing of energy production and economic feasibility, culminating in an in-person event in January 2025.

InDEEP is funded by WPTO and managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories. InDEEP seeks innovations that blend materials and renewable energy research to convert wave energy into usable electricity to build energy resilience in coastal cities and support the Federal Government’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In November 2023, the U.S. DOE unveiled 19 winners of Phase I that shared $285,000 in cash support to further advance their novel wave energy concepts. During Phase I, competitors developed an initial DEEC-Tec concept, submitted a brief technical narrative representing their idea and innovation process, and completed a simplified technology performance level assessment to reflect their concept’s potential economic performance.

Recently, the WPTO launched a $4.8 million funding opportunity to accelerate the commercialization and support of hydropower and marine energy businesses. The initiative seeks to boost competition, innovation, and economic development by offering commercialization services and support to entrepreneurs and small businesses in hydropower and/or marine energy. 

In terms of other news coming from the U.S. DOE, a $14.5 million funding opportunity was launched in January 2024, aiming to tackle challenges in the marine and ocean renewable energy industries and to foster innovation.