WPTO launched the H2Os Prize, and innovators competed in two prize phases and developed new solutions that can help advance hydropower’s contributions to the grid.
Water Power Technologies Office
March 1, 2023
minute read time
Grid Reliability, Resilience, & Integration (HydroWIRES)
Project Name: Hydropower Operations Optimization (H2Os) Prize
Project Team: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (lead) and RTI International
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) launched the Hydropower Operations Optimization (H2Os) Prize in April 2022. During the remainder of Fiscal Year 2022, competitors completed two prize phases, and WPTO awarded $25,000 to innovators developing new solutions that can help advance hydropower’s contribution to the grid.
As the United States works to decarbonize the power grid by 2035, hydropower’s evolving role will be crucial to improving the grid’s reliability, resilience, and overall performance. Teams competing in the H2Os Prize are helping make hydropower more flexible by offering new ideas on how this resource can provide on-demand power for the grid, especially as more variable renewable energy resources begin to power the nation.
The H2Os Prize is funded by WPTO and administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in partnership with RTI International.
Grid Reliability, Resilience, & Integration (HydroWIRES) Projects
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A General Electric Research-led team demonstrated a new hydropower turbine design and monitoring methodology that allows plant operators to adjust power output in a few seconds to meet energy demand without needing to start or stop units.
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