The Energy Department today announced $7.25 million to 6 awardees that will continue to advance marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies as a viable source for America’s clean energy portfolio. MHK technologies convert the energy of waves, tides, rivers, and ocean currents into electricity that can be used by homes and businesses, especially in coastal regions of the United States. The projects announced today will develop instrumentation packages to better understand potential environmental impacts of MHK devices; characterize incoming waves to optimize energy capture; and leverage the RD capabilities of American universities to advance the U.S. MHK industry.

Under the MHK Environmental Resource Characterization Instrumentation Funding Opportunity Announcement, the Energy Department selected five organizations that will collectively receive $3.25 million to develop and integrate instrumentation and processing techniques that monitor the environmental impacts of MHK technologies and collect physical data on ocean waves (e.g., height, period, directionality, and steepness).

• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will develop integrated computer hardware and software algorithms in a small, marinized package that will use real-time active acoustic data streams to detect, track, and characterize nearby aquatic organisms.   
• The University of Washington will develop open-source software to analyze visual data on marine animals in order to classify their taxonomy and detect their presence around MHK devices for future research needs. Additionally, the University of Washington will develop and test an integrated instrumentation package that will allow one sensor to enable or trigger another senor in order to capture important, but rare, events without creating a surplus of data. 
• Scientific Solutions, Inc. of Nashua, New Hampshire will develop a drifting noise measurement system for use during all phases of MHK project testing, installation, and operation.  The system will allow for the measurement and analysis of noise produced by and around MHK devices, in order to satisfy regulatory requirements and help inform future research. 
• Florida Atlantic University will develop and test a monitoring system that uses a Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) system, which works like radar, but uses pulses of light instead of radio waves to determine the location and movement of objects. In this case, FAU’s LiDAR will provide automated tracking and classification of animals near MHK equipment, as well as notify researchers when animals are present and provide high-resolution imagery of their behavior.  
• Oregon State University will develop and demonstrate a system for real-time, phase-resolved wave forecasting for a near-shore region, which will allow wave-energy devices to be tuned for increased energy capture based on incoming waves. This will be accomplished by utilizing data from wave-imaging marine radar and a data assimilation algorithm based off of a non-linear wave model.

In addition to the projects listed above, the Energy Department announced today that a new consortium led by Oregon State University, and including the University of Washington and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, will receive $4 million in funding to leverage their field-focused RD capabilities and accelerate the development and deployment of MHK technologies.  

Utilizing the existing resources at the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, this consortium of universities will accelerate the development of next-generation wave and tidal energy device arrays. Together, these universities will implement field-focused RD activities aimed at reducing the technical, economic, and environmental barriers to MHK deployments over a wide range of topic areas identified by the Energy Department. Specific RD initiatives that will be carried out by these universities include the development of autonomous robotic devices to support MHK operations, array designs for performance enhancements, and the development of standardized approaches for the biological monitoring for MHK projects.

Learn more about MHK technologies by visiting the Water Power Program’s Marine and Hydrokinetic Research Development webpage. The best way to stay up to date with the Water Power Program and learn about ongoing research and available financial opportunities is by signing up for breaking news alerts.