he US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has allocated more than $33 million to fund projects aimed at advancing hydropower and marine energy technologies. The funding includes over $8.6 million for 13 hydropower technical assistance projects through the HydroWIRES Initiative and nearly $25 million for 25 hydropower and marine energy research projects at six national laboratories.

The HydroWIRES technical assistance projects will provide expertise to hydropower developers, focusing on opportunities for hydropower hybrids and pumped storage hydropower (PSH). The projects will be supported by experts from national labs such as Argonne, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

Thirteen new hydropower research projects will take place at five of these labs, targeting areas such as grid resilience, extreme weather response, and modernization efforts. Six new marine energy projects at NREL, PNNL, and Sandia National Laboratories will also advance research, including innovations in wave and current energy conversion technologies.

Additionally, the WPTO is supporting six “Sapling” marine energy projects, which began as smaller “Seedlings” projects and will now receive increased funding of $200,000 to $400,000 under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These projects aim to drive innovative research at DOE labs.