Project Name: WPTO Multi-Year Program Plan 

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In 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) released its first Multi-Year Program Plan, a comprehensive report detailing the office’s future research, development, demonstration, and commercial activities across both hydropower and marine energy and outlining how these efforts can help meet the nation’s energy and sustainability goals.  

The report details key performance goals for each of WPTO’s activity areas until 2025 and includes long-term, follow-on objectives through 2030. This report serves as a strategic vision and operational guide to help WPTO manage and coordinate its activities and communicate its mission, goals, and plans. The Multi-Year Program Plan was an integral part of the 2022 Peer Review, providing reviewers insight and guidance on the office’s strategy to which WPTO-funded projects must align.

WPTO 2021-2022 Accomplishments Report

Testing on New Turbine Demonstrates Safe Passage for Large and Small Fish
Natel Energy’s Restoration Hydro Turbine is the first in the industry to enable safe passage for large and small fish while also meeting installation configurations for a wide variety of hydropower facilities.
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WPTO Launches New Hydropower Prize Focused on Grid Resiliency and Selects Winners for Phases One and Two
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.
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National Laboratory Team Develops First Model for Hydropower Digital Twin
A national laboratory-led project developed a one-dimensional hydropower digital twin that virtually represents the inner workings of a real hydropower plant.
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New Machine Learning Technology Helps Hydropower Facilities Detect Migrating Eels
A team of researchers optimized deep learning software and created software that can automatically detect migrating fish near hydropower facilities.
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New Collegiate Competition to Support Hydropower Workforce Growth
WPTO launched the inaugural Hydropower Collegiate Competition to inspire the next generation of hydropower workers.
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Analysis Tool Improves Turbine Foil Designs, Increasing Energy Capture by 24%
Ocean Renewable Power Company developed a computational analysis tool that helped the company create new marine energy turbine foil (or blade) designs that reduce costs and increase energy capture by up to 24%.
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Researchers Demonstrate Prototypes for Harvesting Wave Energy to Power Sensors on Ocean Observation Systems
Researchers advance triboelectric nanogenerator system prototypes, an emerging and potentially cost-effective technology that could be used to power instruments aboard hurricane and tsunami detection or water quality monitoring systems.
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PacWave Construction Continues, Projects Selected for Open-Water Testing
Construction continued on PacWave South, a grid-connected and pre-permitted wave energy testing facility in the United States, and WPTO selected projects that represent the first round of open-water testing at the site.
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Fourteen Student Teams Build and Test Marine Energy Devices Through DOE Competition
WPTO hosted the third annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition and selected the teams to compete in the fourth annual competition.
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Community-Driven Program Selects 12 Remote and Island Communities to Accelerate Their Transition to Resilient, Clean Energy
DOE announced 12 competitively selected remote and island communities for the second Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project cohort.
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