USA: DOE Funds Advanced Wave and Tidal Energy Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $10 million to strengthen the support the design, manufacturing, demonstration, and testing of sustainable, environmentally responsible marine and hydrokinetic (MHK), and wave and tidal energy technology.

Wave Energy Converter (WEC)

The Energy Department will make $6.5 million available to develop a new competition that challenges individuals, universities, and existing and emerging companies to improve the performance and lower the cost of energy produced by Wave Energy Converter (WEC) devices. Once launched, the competition will help attract ideas across this emerging industry to demonstrate innovative technologies that produce energy from ocean waves.

The funding opportunity seeks an organization to develop and administer the WEC Prize.

MHK Environmental and Resource Characterization Instrumentation

The Energy Department will also make $3.5 million available for the development and testing of MHK sensors, instruments, and processing techniques. These funds will support the development of new instruments to measure the environmental impacts of MHK technologies, test and integrate environmental monitoring instrumentation packages, and develop and test sensors and instruments to collect data on the characteristics of waves, including their height, period, direction, and steepness.

The data will allow WECs to more accurately assess approaching waves and more efficiently harness their energy.

Press release, March 11, 2014; Image: SSE (illustration)