The U.S. Energy Department announced six awardees that were selected to receive $6.7 million in federal funding to support cost-effective electricity generation from U.S. water resources, the department announced late Friday.
The Energy Department considers that as 'marine energy technologies are at an early stage of development due to the fundamental scientific and engineering challenges of generating power from complex, low-velocity and high-density dynamics in a corrosive operational environment,' installation, operation, and maintenance (IO&M) strategies are an essential step toward that outcome.
In Alaska, the Igiugig Village Council (IVC) in partnership with the Ocean Renewable Power Company of Portland, Maine, (ORPC) was selected to receive $2.3 million in funding to further design, construct, and test the RivGen cross-flow river current turbine system, and incorporate improved IO&M strategies early in the design phase, resulting in improved operational costs and device availability.
The remaining $4.4 million was designated for five projects as detailed below:-
- Seawater Compatible Rotary Pump for Wave Energy Conversion: Resolute Marine Energy of Boston, Massachusetts, will incorporate a marinized rotary pump with a hydraulic Power Take-Off system that can be employed in wave energy converters.
- Design of high-deflection turbine blades for marine energy applications: ORPC will team up with the University of New Hampshire, DoyleCFD, AeroCraft, and Sandia National Laboratories to investigate low stiffness cross-flow turbines to increase turbine efficiency by reducing the number of internal supports and adjusting designs to reduce tip losses.
- Advanced Linear Hybrid Power Take-Off for Wave Energy Conversion: Oscilla Power, Inc. (OPI) of Seattle, Washington, will improve and optimize OPI’s linear hybrid drivetrain technology to be able to achieve a rated capacity of over 400 kilowatt per drivetrain while staying within subsystem cost, mass, and size targets.
- Novel Wave Energy Converter Concept: Enorasy of Bedford, Massachusetts, in partnership with Raytheon, University of Maine, and Draper Labs will build a 1/10th scale prototype of a unique wave energy converter that utilizes a rotating mass and control system to absorb power in a new and very efficient manner.
- Water Horse Hydroelectric Harvester Development: In coordination with Alaska Center for Energy and Power (ACEP), and Renerge Inc., University of Alaska Fairbanks will incorporate design modifications on an oscillating hydrokinetic harvester, the Water Horse.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr