Marine energy uses natural energy from moving water—such as waves, tides, and river and ocean currents—to produce renewable power. Water moves naturally all around the world and provides a multitude of opportunities to harness energy for our power grid. The power coursing through oceans and rivers equates to nearly 60% of the United States’ total electricity needs. Even if only a small portion of this technical resource potential is captured, marine energy could make significant contributions to the nation’s energy needs and provide millions of Americans with locally sourced, clean, and reliable energy. 

Marine energy also offers opportunities to provide clean energy to remote and island communities and to leverage the ocean to power blue economy applications such as ocean observation technology or desalination and water treatment devices. 

To maximize the potential of marine energy, the Water Power Technologies Office’s Marine Energy Program conducts transformative research and development and supports demonstration efforts to advance the development of reliable, cost-effective marine energy technologies and reduce barriers to testing these devices. The program comprises four core R&D activity areas that follow a strategic approach to addressing the challenges facing U.S. marine energy stakeholders: high costs and lengthy permitting processes associated with in-water testing.

1) Foundational R&D

2) Technology-Specific System Design & Validation

3) Reducing Barriers to Testing

4) Data Access & Analytics.

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Check out WPTO's marine energy image library to learn more about marine energy technologies.