The Water Power Technologies Office announced $1.2 million to fund 23 marine energy research and development projects at four U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories.
Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office
June 7, 2023
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) today announced $1.215 million for 23 projects to further marine energy research and development at DOE’s national laboratories. These projects will advance marine energy technologies and their roles in achieving both national and local clean energy goals.
While marine energy is not yet widely deployed across the country, the total available marine renewable energy in the United States is equivalent to approximately 57% of all U.S. power generation in 2019. Even if only a small portion of this technical resource potential is captured, marine energy technologies would make significant contributions to U.S. energy needs. Marine energy resources are also predictable and consistently available, meaning technologies that harness this power can complement other renewables like wind energy and solar power.
Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) will lead these projects.
The projects announced today are “Seedlings” funded under WPTO’s Seedlings and Saplings program to encourage and support new and innovative research ideas at DOE national laboratories. Projects start as Seedlings and are eligible for up to $100,000. Promising Seedling projects are then eligible to become Saplings with funding of $150,000 to $500,000.
The 23 selected marine energy projects are as follows:
New Seedlings
Opportunity Area: Data Synthesis, Artificial Intelligence, and Marine Technology
Projects in this area proposed innovative approaches in artificial intelligence and machine learning tools for marine energy research and development, which could create new opportunities or bring greater efficiency or capabilities to marine energy applications.
In this project, Sandia will create a proof-of-concept for a software program that would allow for modern and complex hydrodynamic modeling to design and optimize wave energy converters. This program would make high-performance computing more accessible to everyday users, including researchers, students, and developers.
In this project, Sandia will partner with Michigan Technological University to build and test different buoy shapes in a wave basin. The resulting data will be used to create and validate a machine learning model to improve wave energy converter design.
In this project, Sandia will use machine learning methods that improve data compression to reduce information loss when measuring the variety of wave sizes over a specific area. The resulting datasets will be used to perform an annual power study for a wave energy converter to demonstrate the potential for machine learning to improve estimates of power production.
In this project, Sandia will implement a machine learning model trained with at-sea testing data from wave energy devices to upgrade wave energy converter self-tuning algorithms. These self-tuning methods will improve a device’s ability to operate under the wide range of conditions experienced at sea.
Opportunity Area: New Opportunities for Powering the Blue Economy
Projects will investigate new ideas for assessing and integrating marine renewable energy as a power source for blue economy applications that have been underexplored to date.
In this project, (Feasibility of Short-period Wave Energy Generation and Small-scale Wave Energy Converter to Support Powering the Blue Economy Applications along the U.S. Coasts), Sandia will investigate the feasibility of small wave energy converters. Researchers will identify relatively low energy waves that commonly occur along the U.S. coasts, design a small wave energy converter to capture energy from those waves, assess the device’s power production, and identify sites where that device could best support blue economy applications.
In this project, ORNL aims to decrease the corrosion of stainless steel equipment used in seawater during hydrogen production. Researchers will coat and test stainless steel electrodes, which form an electric current through the seawater, and use a simulated marine energy power supply to the electrodes.
Opportunity Area: Marine Infrastructure and Coastal Resilience
Projects will assess the integration and co-development of marine energy systems with marine infrastructure that enhances coastal resilience through both energy and non-energy benefits.
In this project, PNNL will catalogue natural green infrastructure, such as a reefs and coastal vegetation, from six remote and island communities participating in the Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project. The project will collect existing spatial data for different types of green infrastructure and the ecosystem services they provide, such as reducing the risks of coastal hazards and mitigating climate change. It will also produce conceptual models based on literature review and expert input that describe relationships between marine energy, green infrastructure, and ecosystem services.
In this project, PNNL will establish a framework for recycling and reusing thermoplastic polymer composites that have been exposed to seawater and explore the potential impact of recycled thermoplastic polymers used in tidal turbines. Additional examinations will be carried out to determine methods for improving the mechanical properties and durability of these materials through recycling.
In this project, Sandia will examine whether seasonal wave energy converter deployments could be more suitable in coastal communities than continuous deployments. An optimization study will integrate techno-economic metrics with community-dependent operational costs and other community-specific metrics such as ecological and social preferences.
In this project, NREL will test a novel wave energy converter inspired by the shape and movement of kelp that converts a broadband spectrum of oceanic and riverine energy to electricity. This project will characterize and validate performance of the technology with an emphasis on studying the ecosystem restoration benefits.
Opportunity Area: Open Area
Projects in this open area propose ideas to advance the marine energy industry using a variety of approaches and could be applicable to grid-scale marine energy, Powering the Blue Economy-related coastal and maritime markets, and education and workforce development.
In this project, a team from NREL and Michigan Technological University will explore the potential of using a perforated (as opposed to an impermeable solid) heave plate design in wave energy converters that can improve characteristics of the heave plate and reduce the capital cost of manufacturing the device. Heave plates are the underwater part of a wave energy converter that are designed to be as stationary as possible.
In this project, PNNL will analyze news media about marine energy to identify and characterize the perceived risks and benefits influencing marine energy development. The approach includes a systematic comparison of article content from news publications over 10 years to consider social, technical, environmental, and political contexts.
In this project, PNNL will analyze signal processing approaches to remove or reduce water flow sounds from hydrophone data using multiple hydrophones and an acoustic Doppler velocimeter. If effective, the developed techniques will facilitate a better understanding of the acoustic noise generated by current energy converters.
In this project, PNNL will test the capabilities of a water-landing uncrewed aerial vehicle (drone) with an underwater video camera to land and take off from a flowing water body while gathering underwater images. If capable, the drone could be tested to monitor fish interactions with marine energy turbines, which would be less costly than maintaining underwater sensors on marine energy devices.
In this project, NREL will focus on developing models that represent the typical power requirements of blue economy activities, such as autonomous underwater vehicle charging and aquaculture. These models can be used to inform marine energy devices and power electronics design, as well as make laboratory testing more representative, leading to improved understanding of marine energy device performance.
In this project, NREL will focus on developing low-cost, open-source software and hardware that measure performance, reliability, and controls of generic wave energy converters. This will be achieved by combining information from sensors, such as strain and pressure sensors, and equations of motion in one low-cost platform.
Continuing Seedlings
Previously selected Seedling projects awarded $50,000 are eligible to apply for Continuing Seedlings for an additional $50,000 to continue their project. Seven Continuing Seedling projects were selected in FY23 and are grouped below by the original opportunity area to which they previously applied.
Continuing Opportunity Area: Coastal Resilience - Ports and Shorelines
This previous opportunity area included ideas related to coastal resilience applications for marine energy systems, including ports and shorelines. Particular areas of interest included energy for powering port activities and ships and exploring the use of marine energy as part of solutions for long-term coastal change and hazard response.
In this project, PNNL will publish results of power performance analyses from a unidirectional oscillating water column wave energy converter prototype provided by the developer Wave Swell Energy. Oscillating water column devices use wave action to pressurize air in a chamber, forcing it through an air turbine.
Continuing Opportunity Area: Open Area
Projects originally funded under this area proposed ideas to advance the marine energy industry using a variety of approaches and could be applicable to grid-scale marine energy, Powering the Blue Economy-related markets, and education and workforce development.
In this project, Sandia will finalize the graphical user interface previously implemented to configure wave energy converter simulations with fewer technical and financial obstacles. The interface will allow wave energy developers to perform high-fidelity wave tank simulations using open-source simulation software.
This project previously demonstrated that simulating both larger swell waves and smaller wind chop waves in the Wave Energy Converter SIMulator (WEC-Sim) software can have a significant effect on wave energy converter performance estimates, particularly for smaller devices. In this follow-on project, NREL will provide modeling advice to the research community, especially WEC-Sim users, about how to produce more accurate power performance estimates by simulating ocean conditions that account for both swell and wind chop.
This project previously developed an online video game to educate general audiences about the low risk of fish collision with marine energy devices. In this follow-on project, PNNL will add a marine mammal to the game and adjust the spatial scale and scientific content for the new organism. The tool will be piloted to gather feedback for revisions.
This project started developing a thermoelectric conversion device that harnesses the air-sea temperature difference to generate energy and could potentially power sensors for environmental monitoring. In this continuing project, ORNL will develop a proof-of-concept system for in-water testing to record air and sea temperatures, which will be used in a model to measure expected energy harvesting potential.
Continuing Opportunity Area: Powering the Blue Economy Markets and Technological Challenges
This previous opportunity area further explored Powering the Blue Economy markets, end uses, and technological challenges that were not already included in national lab foundational research and development projects or other WPTO programs.
This project previously designed, built, and operated a custom test rig to characterize the power production of a single-layer rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). These emerging technologies would be suitable for powering ocean observing equipment such as temperature or pressure sensors. In this follow-on project, NREL will use the test rig to measure characteristics of these devices that most affect power output, such as rotation speed and rotor material. These parameters will be used to design and manufacture an upgraded single-layer rotary TENG with higher power production.
Previous research developed a method to extract magnesium salts from seawater. In this follow-on project, PNNL will develop methods for higher mineral selectivity and purity that can be integrated into a multi-value platform powered by marine energy, which could also support other blue economy activities such as marine carbon dioxide removal.
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