Table of Contents

  • Waterpower Week Wrap-Up
  • Featured Press Coverage
  • Question of the Month

Wave Energy Prize Finalist Teams and Alternates Showcased at Waterpower Week April 25-27

Wave Energy Prize collage

Wave Energy Prize Finalist and Alternate Teams recently had a unique opportunity to showcase their technologies and network with industry, academic, and government stakeholders during Waterpower Week 2016 in Washington, D.C.

The week’s events kicked off during the National Hydropower Association Annual Conference’s opening plenary session on Monday, April 25 when José Zayas, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, highlighted the work of the teams to the more than 700 conference attendees.

Conference attendees

On Monday and then Tuesday, April 26, the teams had their 1/50th-scale WEC models on display, meeting with Zayas, Cristin Dorgelo, Chief of Staff of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and other event attendees during the conference’s coffee breaks. On Tuesday afternoon, teams switched gears and took part in a Wave Energy Prize Team Summit, a key part of Waterpower Week, where they were able to meet each other and share ideas; learn about the requirements of upcoming Technology Gates 3 and 4; and participate in on-camera interviews discussing their thoughts on the role of government in innovation, their teams’ successes so far, and the challenges they are overcoming in the upcoming final phase of the Prize. The teams then traveled to the MASK Basin at Carderock, Md., on the morning of Wednesday, April 27 to better understand the logistical and technical requirements related to 1/20th-scale testing, and to tour the world-class facility where they will test their prototype devices beginning in August.

Teams visiting the MASK Basin in Carderock, Md.

Thanks to all those who joined us for Waterpower Week and the Team Summit, as well as all those who helped make the event a success!

Featured Press Clip

Chasing the Wave Energy Prize 
Marine Technology Reporter Magazine, Tue 26 Apr 2016

Question of the Month

Q: How is DOE preparing for the start of 1/20th-scale testing at Carderock this summer?

A: The Wave Energy Prize Team is well on its way to being fully prepared to welcome the first Finalist Team arriving at Carderock for testing on Aug. 1. Data analysts are working with each Finalist and Alternate Team to develop comprehensive test and evaluation plans tailored for each team’s device, plans which include how the devices will be rigged, derigged, moored, tested, and evaluated. Just a few days ago, the Wave Energy Prize Team successfully ran all of the 1/20th scale waves in the MASK Basin, the waves that the finalists’ devices will be exposed to during testing this summer.