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- Asset Management
- Buoy
- Canal
- Climate Change
- Controls
- Dam Safety
- Environmental Impact
- Fish and Aquatic Resources
- Future Grid
- Generator
- Governor
- Hydraulic Forecasting
- Hydraulic Optimization
- Hydrokinetic
- Intake Gates
- Markets
- Penstock
- Regulatory Process
- Renewable Integration
- Sediment Transport
- Shoreline and Riparian Resources
- Spillgates
- Tidal
- Transmission Services
- Turbine
- Water Management
- Water Resources
- Water Systems
- Wave
- Marine Energy
Marine Energy Performance Metrics
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jesse Roberts
WPTO uses metrics to accomplish a variety of objectives, including enabling consistent evaluation of device performance in marine energy. Defensible and relevant performance metrics are required specifically for project funding decisions (e.g. FOA evaluations & Go/No Go decision points), shorter duration targeted initiatives (e.g. prizes and SBIRs), and generally baselining program and industry progress. Recommendations from reviewers during the 2019 WPTO Peer Review included further developing the use and implementation of performance metrics across the marine energy portfolio to achieve program goals. The MHK program goals are to (1) reduce LCOE of devices harnessing energy from waves, tides, and currents (specifically, targeting an 80% reduction in the cost of energy for wave, tidal, and river energy technologies from modeled reference 2015 baselines by the year 2035), and (2) support near term opportunities for commercialization through Powering the Blue Economy (PBE) markets.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Wave
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2022
- Marine Energy
- Small or Non Conventional Hydro
Market Analysis of Shell Energy North America’s Hydro Battery System
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Patrick Balducci
PNNL’s contribution to this project is the market feasibility assessment, which will be performed in three FERC power markets and Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The PNNL scope of work focuses on the economic innovations and impacts.
Technology Application
Small or Non Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Research Sub-Category
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Marmot Dam Removal
Lead Companies
U.S. Geological Survey
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jon Major, Cascades Volcano Observatory
Immediate sediment response to removal of Condit Dam on the White Salmon River.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Sediment Transport
Status
complete
Completion Date
2012
- Marine Energy
Maturation of Nontoxic, Durable, Economical Coatings for Control of Biofouling and Corrosion on MHK Devices
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- George Bonheyo
The objective of this project is to mature and demonstrate durable, economical, and nontoxic coatings that will prevent fouling organisms from growing on MHK structures. A novel foul-release coating recently developed (initial patents filed in 2016 and 2017) at PNNL, Superhydrophobic Lubricant Infused Composite (SLIC) technology, will be adapted to provide the durability necessary for >5 year protection in the marine environment.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Maturation of Nontoxic, Durable, Economical Coatings for Control of Invasive Mussels at Hydropower Facilities
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- Shane Addleman
The objective of this project is to mature and demonstrate durable, economical, and nontoxic coatings that will prevent invasive mussels (zebra and quagga) and other organisms from growing on hydropower structures.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Powerhouse Equipment
Research Sub-Category
Water Systems
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Conventional Hydro
Maximizing the habitat restoration potential of controlled releases at hydropower dams; Understanding impacts of hydrograph form on sediment transport
Lead Companies
University of Idaho
Lead Researcher (s)
- Megan Kenworthy
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Sediment Transport
Status
complete
Completion Date
2018
- Conventional Hydro
Measuring and evaluating ecological flows
Lead Companies
U.S. Geological Survey
Lead Researcher (s)
- James E. McKenna, Jr.
USGS scientists and partners used estimates of river and streamflow and observed fish abundances to develop tools that specify the response of fish to alterations in those flows. They fit the logistic model to a cumulative fish abundance curve as a function of yield providing an empirical means to develop models of the response of cumulative fish abundance to flows. Response zones of yield for each species in each system type illustrate how criteria may be developed that can be used in decision-making for management of flows. Mapping stream sensitivity to flow alteration throughout the Great Lakes Region with a multiscale spatial framework showed how regional variability in sensitivity for any fish species or assemblage may be evaluated and provides managers with information to help determine where the best opportunities for protection or restoration of streamflows and associated communities exist.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Fish and Aquatic Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2018
- Conventional Hydro
Measuring and Monitoring Sediment Transport in an Ephemeral Stream; Physical and Surrogate Data Collection
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- David Varyu
Is there a strong statistical regression between surrogate measurements and definitive (direct) measurements of sediment transport in ephemeral systems? Which surrogates are the most reliable to predict the discharge of bedload (e.g., seismic or acoustic)? What characteristic of the surrogate is most informative (e.g. total acoustic power or number of impacts for acoustic; amplitude at what frequency for seismic)? Can multiple calibrated turbidity sensors account for sandy suspended sediment concentrations to determine suspended load? Can LSPIV be useful to determine water velocity and discharge in flash-flood environments as shown elsewhere? River maintenance and other in-channel projects – whether for water delivery, public safety, habitat restoration, or other – need to be designed and implemented with a knowledge or river processes and channel morphology to ensure project success. Process and morphology are a result of the magnitude and timing of water and sediment delivery to the channel. A method to adequately quantify sediment delivery from ephemeral tributaries in a reliable and cost-effective manner does not exist. This research will benefit any office charged with rivers that have ephemeral tributaries.
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
- Conventional Hydro
Mercury Loading to Streams and Reservoirs: A Process-Based Approach
Lead Companies
Bureau of Reclamation
Lead Researcher (s)
- Yong Lai
The proposed research aims to develop a process-based, watershed-scale numerical model that may be used to assess and predict mercury loading to streams and reservoirs. It will answer the following research questions: (1) Can a reliable and accurate process-based, watershed-scale mercury loading model be developed that will allow Reclamation to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of mercury management measures in its facilities such as reservoirs? (2) What are the key physical and biochemical processes, among many possibilities, that should be simulated more accurately than others for a reliable mercury delivery simulation? (3) Can we develop novel numerical methods to simulate mercury delivery more efficiently and reliably than existing models?
Technology Application
Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Water Resources
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
2020
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org