US DOE unveils notice of intent to fund wave energy tech advancement 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (U.S. DOE’s) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has disclosed an intent to provide up to $112.5 million to advance the commercial readiness of wave energy technologies through open water testing and system validation.

According to WPTO, the funding opportunity announcement (FOA) named “Oceans of Opportunity: U.S. Wave Energy Open Water Testing” is expected to be opened in or around September 2024. 

The funding aims to reduce risks for wave energy converter (WEC) deployments, increase the potential for commercial adoption through longer demonstrations, expected to last nearly two years, and offer additional benefits to advance these technologies, WPTO noted. 

The FOA is anticipated to use a stage-gated approach to reduce deployment risks, increase commercial adoption potential, and provide benefits to advance WECs. According to the U.S. DOE, this approach includes identifying and maturing high-potential WEC technologies, reducing financial risks for developers, incentivizing investors, progressing technologies from smaller to utility-scale, and increasing learning for installation, operations, and maintenance. 

The stage-gated process would involve a down-select in the first year, where selected projects undergo evaluation by national labs and third-party engineering firms to determine which projects proceed. 

The FOA is anticipated to include three Topic Areas.

Topic Area 1 focuses on wave energy technologies that provide power to distributed blue economy applications.

Topic Area 2 aims to develop functional wave energy technologies for coastal and island stakeholders, which may or may not be grid-connected.

Topic Area 3 allows for maturing grid-connected technologies that demonstrate reliable power generation directly to a utility.

Applicants can register in the EERE Program Information Center (EPIC) to receive official notifications and information.

“While wave energy is not yet widely deployed across the country, the total available wave energy resource in the United States is equivalent to approximately 34% of all U.S. power generation. Even if only a portion of this technical resource potential is captured, wave energy technologies would make significant contributions to U.S. energy needs,” said WPTO.

“Marine energy, including wave energy, could power the U.S. electric grid and coastal communities. It could provide local, affordable, clean energy to rural and remote island communities, which often rely on expensive shipments of fossil fuels. Marine energy technologies can also power offshore work and the blue economy.”

Recently, 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.