US DoE awards USD 10.5m for marine energy tech improvements

The US Department of Energy (DoE) will award up to USD 10.5 million (EUR 9.6m) to six projects seeking to improve the survivability of marine energy devices and reduce uncertainty regarding their installation, operations and maintenance.

The DoE has picked six organisations to share the grant, it announced on Monday.

Santa Barbara, California-based Dehlsen Associates LLC will try to optimise the structure of its wave energy converter in order to enhance its survivability characteristics and thus cut the cost of energy derived from it. The particular device comprises multiple pods that use common components.

M3 Wave LLC of Salem, Oregon, will receive financing for the development of modeling tools that will help minimise effects of sediment transport and increase the lifetime of its own system by lowering maintenance requirements in commercial-scale deployments. The company’s own device is designed to sit on the ocean floor and harness energy from the pressure waves beneath ocean waves.

Seattle, Washington-headquartered Oscilla Power Inc will use its portion of the funds for a project targeting an optimisation of the storm-survival configurations of the firm’s wave energy converter, which consists of a surface float that is tethered to a base suspended in the water.

On the other hand, Columbia Power Technologies Inc of Charlottesville, Virginia, plans to develop a streamlined, cost-effective installation and recovery process. It will include design updates and process improvements related to the installation, operations and maintenance of its floating, offshore wave energy converter.

Meanwhile, the Igiugig Village Council, in southwestern Alaska, will be developing a river turbine system with design improvements to installation, operations and maintenance. This will simplify maintenance and make system components more durable.

New York-based Verdant Power Inc, in turn, will use the money to complete its TriFrame foundation, which will enable the deployment of three turbines as a single system.

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