US DOE to support marine energy research at universities with USD 14.5m

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) plans to release a USD-14.5-million (EUR 13.4m) funding opportunity in the autumn to support marine energy research at US institutions of higher education like colleges and universities.

The idea is to fund projects through four topic areas: generating publicly available data and information on cost reductions and performance improvements of marine energy devices; assessing and advancing potential synergies between floating offshore wind and/or marine energy and aquaculture development; supporting undergraduate senior design and/or research projects in marine energy; and proposals for activities that address the industry needs not covered by other topic areas.

In relation to topic area number two, the WPTO will team up with DOE’s Wind Energy Technologies Office (WETO).

The WPTO describes marine energy as power harnessed from waves, tides, ocean and river currents, and even from differences in ocean salt levels, temperatures, and pressure. It notes that the total available marine energy resource in the country is equivalent to about 57% of all US power generation in 2019.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.925)

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