The funding will be used to advance marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy systems that generate electricity from waves, tides, and currents.
It will also be used to enhance environmental monitoring technologies that help in minimizing environmental impacts.
The funding will support projects that help in decreasing the cost of electricity generated through MHK systems and help in protecting marine environments.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy plans to fund up to 10 projects that address technology development and demonstration, market acceleration and technology deployment.
The funding opportunity will specifically support projects that integrate next-generation MHK technologies into the current wave and current energy conversion systems and exhibit enhanced systems in full-scale, open-water tests for a one-year period.
It will also support the projects that design, test, and validate environmental monitoring technologies that quantify the affects of MHK systems in marine settings.
The department intends to select three candidatures in the first category and would award $5.35m each, totaling $16.05m. The rest of the awarding money will be used for the second category.
The DOE’s basic criteria is to minimize the cost of energy from MHK systems, fixing the cost of producing power from those systems to maximum amount of 15c/kWh by 2030.
Image: The US Department of Energy unveils $22m funding for marine energy and environmental monitoring projects. Photo: Courtesy of JSquish.
