DOE Awarding $18M to 17 U.S. Universities Studying Marine and Offshore Wind Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has invested more than $18 million for 27 R&D projects by university researchers focused on advancing marine energy and offshore wind technologies to deploy renewable energy sources.
The projects at 17 universities will address challenges facing marine and ocean renewable energy industries and encourage innovation and development.
The total available marine energy resource in the U.S. is equivalent to about 60% of all U.S. power generation. Meanwhile, floating offshore wind has 2.8 TW of potential power in the country, equivalent to more than double of the existing U.S. electricity consumption, once fully developed.
The projects selected through this funding opportunity seek to:
- Focus: Generate publicly available data and test platforms to help identify cost reductions and performance improvements to advance marine energy devices.
o Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon): $500,000
o Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey): $500,000
o University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan): Two awards—$998,700 and $500,000
- Focus: Advance potential synergies between offshore wind and/or marine energy and aquaculture development. (This topic area is a joint effort between DOE's Water Power Technologies Office and Wind Energy Technologies Office.)
o Boston University (Boston, Massachusetts): $375,000
o California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, California): $375,000
o University of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu, Hawaii): $497,000
o University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire): $375,000
- Focus: Support undergraduate senior design and/or research projects in marine energy.
o Baldwin Wallace University (Berea, Ohio): $499,800
o Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, Florida): $500,000
o Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (College Station, Texas): $500,000
o University of Alaska Fairbanks (Fairbanks, Alaska): $500,000
o University of Houston (Houston, Texas): $500,000
o University of Washington (Seattle, Washington): $500,000
o University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wisconsin): $500,000
- Focus: Advance additional ideas supporting the Water Power Technologies Office's Marine Energy Program objectives.
o Michigan Technological University (Houghton, Michigan): $598,800
o North Carolina State University (Raleigh, North Carolina): Two awards—$1,000,000 and $1,000,000
o Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon): Two awards—$999,500 and $1,000,000
o State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook, New York): Two awards—$500,000 and $500,000
o University of Alaska Fairbanks (Fairbanks, Alaska): $1,000,000
o University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan): $994,200
o University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire): Two awards—$985,300 and $1,000,000
o University of Washington (Seattle, Washington): $999,300
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The projects were selected through the Marine Energy University Foundational R&D funding opportunity from the Water Power Technologies Office and Wind Energy Technologies Office. Award amounts are rounded and are expected to change after final negotiations.
