by Brianna Crandall — August 12, 2015—Perhaps indicative of future energy use trends, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) just announced new research funding to help advance the use of water power from waves, tides, and ocean currents—a largely untapped renewable energy resource that could provide clean, affordable energy to homes improve and businesses across the nation.
According to DOE, water power is currently the country’s largest source of clean, domestic, renewable energy, and holds significant promise for helping the United States meet its growing energy demand. DOE’s research and development (R&D) efforts fall under two broad categories: hydropower and marine and hydrokinetic.
Four entities were selected to receive $7.4 million to spur innovation of next-generation water power component technologies, designed for manufacturability and built specifically for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) systems. The projects will address technical challenges in three areas: advanced controls, crosscutting power take-off—which converts mechanical motion into electrical power—and innovative structures.
Advancements in marine and hydrokinetic technologies will help these devices effectively and sustainably harness increased amounts of renewable energy from marine environments, notes DOE.
Through this funding opportunity, the selected projects will help improve the performance and reduce the cost of MHK technologies. Research and development supported by this funding will advance the market-readiness of MHK systems through the continued development and use of innovative components for wave and tidal energy devices.
The full list of selected marine and hydrokinetic system performance advancement projects is outlined in the August 6 news release on the Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy R&D page.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Water Power Program leads efforts to develop innovative technologies capable of generating renewable, environmentally friendly, cost-competitive electricity from water resources. Learn more about how MHK systems work by viewing EERE’s “Energy 101: Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy” video on YouTube.
