Although we often think of offshore wind power as a type of marine energy, it’s technically not. As the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) prepares to further its investment in actual marine energy technologies, it’s a good time to learn about this important resource.
Recently, the federal government announced up to $112.5 million in funding from the DOE for its largest-ever investment in marine energy. This five-year investment will significantly accelerate the design, fabrication, and testing of multiple wave energy converters (WECs), which harness power from ocean waves.
Wave energy, a type of marine energy, can provide local, affordable, and clean energy for U.S. electric grids, coastal and island communities, and offshore work.
“Marine energy has great potential in the United States—the total available wave energy resource in the U.S. is equivalent to approximately 34 percent of all domestic power generation,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The Department of Energy’s investment in wave energy will provide consistent, long-term funding to American developers so they can advance their technologies with the goal of providing millions of Americans with locally sourced, clean, and reliable energy.”
Energy from ocean waves is abundant and complementary to other renewable energy sources, like wind energy and solar power. The DOE explains that, if only a portion of this technical resource potential is captured, wave energy technologies would make significant contributions to U.S. energy needs by powering U.S. electric grids and at-sea activities, as well as rural and remote communities that often rely on expensive shipments of fossil fuels.
Administered by the DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), this investment is designed to support development and testing of WECs to provide power for:
- At-sea applications, such as ocean observation, aquaculture, and marine carbon dioxide removal.
- Coastal community needs, such as power and clean drinking water production.
- Utility electricity needs. WECs with utility applications may be tested at PacWave South, the first pre-permitted, grid-connected test facility for wave energy technologies in the continental United States that is expected to be operational next year.
This investment will help identify and mature high-potential WEC technologies, reduce financial risks for developers and incentivize investors, progress technologies at smaller scales while developing toward utility scale, and increase learning for installation, operations, and maintenance.
Projects will be funded in three topic areas:
Open Water Testing and System Validation for Distributed Applications
This topic area addresses distributed marine energy, which includes fixed and mobile wave energy harvesting technologies that are not connected to the grid and, when in commercial operation, would not be connected to shore (though a shore connection is allowable during testing). Distributed marine energy technologies are well-suited to powering blue economy applications or end uses at sea, which include but are not limited to scientific and defense ocean observation, aquaculture, marine carbon dioxide removal, seawater mining, and synthetic fuels generation.
Open Water Testing and System Validation for Community Applications
This topic area aims to develop functional wave energy technologies for end users such as coastal and island communities as well as for blue economy applications. The technology development focus ranges from small-scale, nearshore solutions that are not connected to the grid to early adoption of technologies suited for communities that deliver critical power and/or water services. This topic area emphasizes non-grid-connected projects.
Open Water Testing and System Validation for Utility Applications
This topic area is designed to support the maturing of wave energy technologies designed to connect to the grid and demonstrate reliable power generation. It focuses on open water testing for power, survivability, and reliability. The developer can utilize PacWave as an open water test site or propose an alternative grid-connected site.
Up to 17 awards are anticipated under the Oceans of Opportunity: U.S. Wave Energy Open Water Testing funding opportunity.
Click HERE to learn about the DOE’s Marine Energy Program.
Click HERE to see a map of marine energy projects currently underway across the United States.
To visit the Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMRE), click HERE.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Mystic Aquarium teamed up to create a series of animated videos that explain marine energy technologies.
Guice Offshore’s Dynamically Positioned Mini Supply Vessel Fleet Can Assist With Your Offshore Marine Energy Mission.
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