Marine Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration

• Assist technology development to improve the components, processes, and systems used for power generation from marine energy resources at a variety of scales;
• Establish and expand critical testing infrastructure and facilities necessary to—
  •  Demonstrate and prove marine energy devices at a range of scales in a manner that is cost-effective and efficient; and
  • Accelerate the technological readiness and commercial application of such devices;
• Address marine energy resource variability issues, including through the application of energy storage technologies;
• Advance efficient and reliable integration of marine energy with the electric grid, which may include smart building systems;
• Identify and study critical short-term and long-term needs to maintaining a sustainable marine energy supply chain based in the United States;
• Increase the reliability, security, and resilience of marine energy technologies;
• Validate the performance, reliability, maintainability, and cost of marine energy device designs and system components in an operating environment;
• Consider the protection of critical infrastructure, such as adequate separation between marine energy devices and submarine telecommunications cables, including through the development of voluntary, consensus-based standards for such purposes;
• Identify opportunities for crosscutting research, development, and demonstration programs between existing energy research programs;
• Identify and improve, in conjunction with the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and other relevant Federal agencies as appropriate, the environmental impact, including potential cumulative environmental impacts, of marine energy technologies, including—
  • Potential impacts on fisheries and other marine resources; and
  • Developing technologies, including mechanisms for self-evaluation, and other means available for improving environmental impact, including potential cumulative environmental impacts;
• Identify, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, potential navigational impacts of marine energy technologies and strategies to prevent possible adverse impacts, in addition to opportunities for marine energy systems to aid the United States Coast Guard, such as remote sensing for coastal border security;
• Develop numerical and physical tools, including models and monitoring technologies, to assist industry in device and system design, installation, operation, and maintenance, including methods to validate such tools;
• Support materials science as it relates to marine energy technology, such as the development of corrosive-resistant materials;
• Improve marine energy resource forecasting and general understanding of aquatic system behavior, including turbulence and extreme conditions;
• Develop metrics and voluntary, consensus-based standards in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and appropriate standard development organizations, for marine energy components, systems, and projects, including—
  • Measuring performance of marine energy technologies; and
  • Characterizing environmental conditions;
• Enhance integration with hybrid energy systems, including desalination;
• Identify opportunities to integrate marine energy technologies into new and existing infrastructure; and
• To develop technology necessary to support the use of marine energy—
  • For the generation and storage of power at sea; and
  • For the generation and storage of power to promote the resilience of coastal communities, including in applications relating to—
    • Desalination;
    • Disaster recovery and resilience; and
    • Community microgrids in isolated power systems.

U.S. Department of Energy Announces $35 Million in Funding to Advance Tidal and River Current Energy Systems

Proposed Funding Opportunity Expanded With $10 Million to Support Community-Led Tidal and Current Energy Planning and Development