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- Asset Management
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- Marine Energy
A Deep-Water MHK Shakedown Tank
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Budi Gunawan
This project will design, execute modifications and upgrades the existing infrastructures at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) to accommodate 1) shakedown testing of marine energy (ME) systems (task 1), and 2) structural testing of belt and rope components used in ME systems (task 2). Once complete, the shakedown testing facility will function as a crucial shakedown test site for developers at a high TRLs prior to at-sea deployments. The Sandia Lake facility will target shakedown testing to reduce the risk and cost of at-sea deployments. The belt and rope testing facility will enable short- and long-term structural testing to understand the mechanical properties and technical limitations of not only belt and rope materials, but also the stitching or clamping at the end of the belt or rope, which is known as a potential weak link in a previous study. The facility will help determine the reliability and maintenance requirement of belt and rope components, and thereby reduce the risk of at-sea deployments
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Advanced Materials
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Bernadette Hernandez-Sanchez
The project goal is to reduce uncertainty in using composites for commercial MHK designs by investigating their performance, potential for manufacture, and providing validated composites resources to industry. A 2015 MHK Composites Workshop identified that industry requires a better understanding of composite materials & structural performance properties related to MHK conditions; they also need validated MHK resources (database & best practices handbook) they can trust to guide development. This led to our Phase I Proposal: Material Design Tools for Marine Hydrokinetic Composite Structures. In 2020, the Materials and Manufacturing Strategy for Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Technologies Research & Development was developed and identified the next level of composites materials research and key gap areas.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2022
- Marine Energy
Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Reliability
Lead Companies
PNNL
Lead Researcher (s)
- George Bonheyo
The overall project objective is to make assessments (using coupons & substructures) and then provide a descriptive resource of materials properties and solutions that address the prioritized needs of the industry.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
AMEC Support-SNL (FOA 2234 Support UNH)
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Vince Neary
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) will collaborate with the Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC) university consortium under FOA-2234, primarily in an advisory capacity, on the major objectives of Topic Area 2: establishing the AMEC, operating modern test facilities, and conducting marine energy research. The project will be focused on providing support to help establish and operate AMEC as a university-led consortium to address the ongoing needs for research and development (R&D) and testing to advance marine renewable energy (MRE) technologies towards commercialization, and to develop Powering the Blue Economy (PBE).
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Environmental Compliance Cost Analysis (Marine Energy Environmental Compliance)
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jesse Roberts
The marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) industry has a vital role in the U.S. clean energy strategy by providing a renewable, domestic energy source that can help meet the U.S. national demand by offsetting the need for traditional power sources that support foreign dependencies and can have detrimental long-term impacts on the environment that put the U.S. at risk. As the MHK industry evolves with new technologies, improved business model paradigms, and expected grid features (i.e., reliability, resilience, flexibility, sustainability, affordability, and security), costs for environmental compliance need to be delineated and reduced to realize MHK’s potential contributions to the U.S. energy portfolio. Licensing, permitting, and other compliance process costs are not well understood; therefore, strategies to reduce costs cannot be formulated and implemented effectively. The important issue addressed here is to delineate and quantify costs for permitting and licensing, including monitoring and adaptive management, and to develop cost reduction pathways and strategies that enable emerging MHK technologies to attain utility scale contributions to our nation’s renewable energy portfolio.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Regulatory Management Process
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
complete
Completion Date
2021
- Small or Non Conventional Hydro
Gravity Water Booster
Lead Companies
INGEREC
Lead Researcher (s)
- Guy Sarremejeanne
The Gravity Water Booster (GWB) is a patented new and innovative hydroelectric generating process that mechanically converts kinetic energy into potential energy and requires just two components to operate: the hydraulic cylinder and the Pelton turbine. It is a small civil engineering structure with a volume of roughly 300 m^3. Its operation is based exclusively on the laws of hydraulics as we know them (Pascal's principle, Bernoulli's equation, Archimedes' thrust), its energy efficiency is 80%. It uses the same components as conventional hydroelectricity (concrete, steel, copper, etc.) and requires no complex technology or use of rare earths. It offers an alternative to dams, since its hydraulic efficiency is 15 times greater, and a 10 m column of pressurized water is equivalent to the potential energy of a 156 m column of water. The power generated by a GWB is controllable (i.e pilotable), unlike wind and solar.
Technology Application
Small or Non Conventional Hydro
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
complete
Completion Date
2022
- Marine Energy
Hybrid Research Vessel to Serve and Represent the next Generation of Blue Economy Technology
Lead Companies
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lead Researcher (s)
- Skip Kerschner
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
- Marine Energy
Improvements to Hydrodynamic and Acoustic Models for Environmental Prediction
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Jesse Roberts
This research will develop and finalize the spatial environmental assessment toolkit (SEAT) made of linked, user-friendly and open-source (freely available) numerical models and mapping tools for designing MRE array layouts that, a priori, maximize energy production and beneficial environmental change while simultaneously minimizing and supporting mitigation of undesirable change. This work supports both the continental grid market and Powering the Blue Economy (PBE) applications such as coastal resilience and disaster recovery for local communities at device spatial and energy scales (e.g. local shoreline protection, reduced coastal erosion and storm surge, beneficial sediment and habitat management, powering isolated communities, etc.). Imperative, and not found elsewhere, is that the SEAT allows MRE project developers to assess site- and technology-specific challenges unique to each deployment as well as find optimal project layouts for power generation and environmental impacts. The goal of the SEAT is to reduce project design, permitting, and monitoring costs with high quality site characterization and better, a priori, understanding of the potential environmental impacts (beneficial or potentially detrimental), while simultaneously defining array layouts that maximize energy production under given constraints. Because SEAT provides a thorough understanding of the environmental effects from MRE deployments, it helps screen (i.e. retire), or where not possible effectively mitigate, environmental risks enabling effective mitigation and efficient monitoring programs to be developed.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Environmental and Sustainability
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
Expected 2025
- Marine Energy
Long-Term Laboratory-wide Facilities & Infrastructure Upgrades Strategy for Marine Energy
Lead Companies
Sandia National Laboratories
Lead Researcher (s)
- Budi Gunawan
Testing facilities and capabilities operated and maintained by national laboratories are pivotal in supporting mission needs of the Marine Energy (ME) program of the WPTO and play an important role in the continued advancement of ME technologies. National lab testing facilitates and capabilities must continue to evolve to meet changing programmatic and technical needs of the ME sector. To meet these present and future testing needs, the ME core national labs, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), along with support from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), will collaboratively and collectively develop a long term, up to 10 years, national laboratory focused facilities and infrastructure investment strategy. This project will develop a detailed understanding of (1) present and future ME testing needs; (2) existing infrastructure and capabilities across the ME facility network (emphasizing national lab key assets); (3) gaps in testing capabilities and key laboratory infrastructure; and (4) opportunities for new investments and/or leveraging existing capabilities to strategically support WPTO programmatic goals. This project will also develop an analysis framework to evaluate and strategically prioritize ME infrastructure needs relative to new challenges and opportunities.
Technology Application
Marine Energy
Research Category
Technology
Research Sub-Category
Hydrokinetic
Status
ongoing
Completion Date
TBD
Don’t see your waterpower research?
Have questions about WaRP?
Contact Marla Barnes at: marla@hydro.org