Powering the Blue Economy: Inspiring Innovators

Entrepreneurs, developers, academic teams, and nonprofit organizations are collaboratively tackling blue economy challenges from conceptual design to business planning to open water testing.

Small Business Innovation Research

The Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has helped fund small businesses and start-ups to codevelop marine energy and blue economy sectors. Through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, 11 applicants were awarded in Phase I in 2020. Awardees focused on markets such as ocean observation, aquaculture, and debris collection, using energy generated from waves, river currents, or ocean currents. Four applicants were awarded in Phase II of the program, spanning the markets of microgrid, energy storage, water pumping, and desalination.

The Blue Economy Industry Challenge

To support blue economy start-ups, WPTO developed The Blue Economy Industry-Challenge in partnership with the Economic Development Administration. Seven awardees from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and Ohio received a total of $4 million to implement ideas for accelerators, incubators, test beds, and commercialization services.

Prizes & Competitions

WPTO, with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), launched two prizes and a collegiate competition in 2019.

Waves to Water Prize

The five-stage, $3.3 million Waves to Water Prize accelerated development of small-scale, wave-powered desalination systems that can be deployed in disaster scenarios or for remote communities. The winning prototypes and designs have incorporated wave attenuators and point absorbers to power water desalination systems. In 2022, teams competed in the final ocean testing stage off the North Carolina coast.

Ocean Observing Prize

The multiphase Ocean Observing Prize, co-led with NOAA’s Integrated Ocean Observing System program, will award up to $3 million to competitors for designing, prototyping, and testing wave-powered autonomous technologies that collect data at sea. More than 50 teams submitted proposals in the initial phase of the contest, which sought ideas for integrating ocean observing platforms with marine energy. The competition continues as teams compete to design, build, and test self-charging autonomous underwater vehicles that can measure and monitor potentially destructive hurricanes.

Marine Energy Collegiate Competition

WPTO supports the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition for undergraduate and graduate students to gain experience and connections marine energy and the blue economy—the first of its kind. In the competition, teams pitch their business plans for linking marine energy with blue economy applications and participate in an optional prototype build and test  competition. Participants and partners represent institutions from across the U.S. as well as international universties.