Harnessing the power of water to generate electricity means finding new locations that can be upgraded with hydropower technology. The Energy Department is opening applications for a new round of funding to identify facilities that might be capable of producing electricity with the right technology. The sum of $3.5 million in funding will be awarded as incentive payments based on kilowatt hours of electricity generated.
New research is helping the emerging tidal energy industry learn from their counterparts in the wind industry. By considering the effects of atmospheric turbulence when developing turbine designs, the wind industry has lowered the cost of energy to record lows and deployed turbines broadly across much of the nation.
A $22 million funding opportunity to study marine and hydrokinetic energy systems was announced today by the Energy Department. The projects funded will help improve monitoring to reduce environmental impacts and lower the cost of generating electricity from waves, tides and currents.
Renewable energy from wind and water had a big year in 2015. As the year comes to a close, we celebrate the milestones of renewable electricity generation in wind and water power with a list of some of our largest accomplishments.
The Schneider family continues a family legacy of developing new hydropower technologies through their company, Natel Energy. Apple is now buying power from a hydropower installation of theirs in Oregon.
Hydropower is one of our best renewable energy sources. By helping develop hydropower, EERE is Making A Difference in generating clean, sustainable and affordable electricity for millions of American homes and businesses.
Though humans have been harnessing water to perform work for thousands of years, the evolution of modern hydropower began in the late 1800’s–coincidentally at the same time that Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were embroiled in a battle now known as the War of the Currents.
A revolutionary river turbine device, developed with funding from DOE, will provide affordable power to a remote Alaskan village. If successful, this project will pave the way for making greater use of hydrokinetic tidal energy in the future.
After an unprecedented 92 teams registered to compete in the Energy Department-funded Wave Energy Prize, today we announced the top 20 teams. These teams all passed through Technology Gate 1: providing a thorough technical submission detailing their device and its functionality.
In order to harness the power of waves to generate electricity, engineers must be able to predict how large floating devices will perform in a dynamic environment—that is, in the water among waves. A team sponsored by the Energy Department, including members from NREL and Sandia National Laboratories, addressed that challenge and won a recent international competition.
A mill owned and operated for six generations by the Weisenberger family has been grinding grains in the heart of Kentucky since the Civil War. In 1862, August Weisenberger emigrated from Baden, Germany, to start milling grains in Midway, Kentucky. He purchased the existing three-story stone mill on the banks of South Elkhorn Creek in 1865—the perfect location to harness water power to operate the mill.
Summer is a great time to hit the water--but you don't have to go to the beach. Hundreds of hydropower dams include reservoirs where a variety of recreational activities can be enjoyed by the whole family!
The Energy Department’s New Stream-reach Development Assessment, conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has identified more than 65 gigawatts of untapped sustainable hydropower potential in U.S. rivers and streams.