The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes investments that will boost the hydropower and marine energy industries, helping them to provide more reliable, affordable energy and expand domestic job opportunities.
Water Power Technologies Office
June 22, 2022
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Chances are you’ve heard about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Maybe you know about its plan to bring high-speed internet and clean water to all Americans. Or maybe you’ve read about its potential to help electrify our country through better batteries, a network of electric vehicle charging stations, and advanced nuclear energy.
But what does this historical investment mean for water power—and Americans?
Signed into law in November 2021, the IIJA allots more than $62 billion for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to invest in American manufacturing and workers; expand access to energy efficiency and reliable, affordable, renewable energy for families, communities and businesses; and build the technologies of tomorrow through reliable energy demonstrations.
About $1 billion from the IIJA will fund water power projects, including:
- Hydropower, including significant investments in maintaining and strengthening the current hydropower fleet, which already provides 37% of the country’s renewable electricity generation along with jobs for tens of thousands of Americans.
- Marine energy, an emerging industry that could generate energy from waves, tides, and river and ocean currents to power remote and island communities and blue economy applications such as ocean observation technology or desalination and water treatment devices.
These investments will boost both industries, provide more affordable energy, and expand domestic job opportunities.
IIJA provides funding to upgrade hydropower infrastructure to deliver reliable energy across the country
Today’s hydropower fleet provides reliable and affordable electricity. But while these facilities are major sources of power and well-paying jobs, they are aging and becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. Rather than risk losing them, the IIJA will provide funding to keep these energy facilities online.
The IIJA provides DOE with more than $700 million for hydropower incentives programs to help existing hydropower facilities improve efficiency (allowing them to create clean energy faster and for less overall cost), improve grid resilience, maintain dam safety, reduce environmental impacts (by implementing technologies that help fish move safely through dams, for example), and continue to provide reliable electricity.
The IIJA also includes $36 million for various other hydropower research, development, deployment, and demonstration projects.
Hydropower will increasingly play a critical role as more energy sources are added to the electricity grid. Hydropower is reliable, flexible, and dispatchable. Facilities can kick on or off quickly to fill energy gaps or even help recover from power disruptions. This resource is the dependable bedrock the country needs to support tomorrow’s energy grid.
IIJA provides funding to advance cutting-edge marine energy technology to help make sure every community can achieve a reliable energy future
Remote and coastal communities are near a vast source of untapped renewable energy: the ocean. And yet many still rely on expensive shipments of diesel fuel while offshore workers, like marine researchers and members of the international shipping industry, must return to shore—expending more energy on the way—to refuel and get back to work.
One potential solution is the burgeoning marine energy industry, which could provide affordable and clean power for many of these isolated communities and offshore needs. To that end, the IIJA is investing $70.4 million for marine energy research and development projects and $40 million for the National Marine Energy Centers.
These IIJA-funded programs will help move the country closer to a secure, reliable, and affordable energy future by strengthening the nation’s energy infrastructure.
Learn more about IIJA-funded activities at DOE, and visit the Water Power Technologies Office’s Hydropower Incentives Funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law page for the latest updates on the hydropower incentives opportunities.
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