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February 2020
Life in the FAST Lane: A Pumped-Storage Prize Progress Report
What does it take to fast-track pumped-storage hydropower projects? Four hard-working teams of innovators may hold the answer.
Industry Innovators Take on Wave-Powered Desalination Challenge through DOE Prize Competition
The Waves to Water Prize competition invites participants to develop wave-powered desalination systems that can be deployed in disaster-relief scenarios and remote coastal locations to provide potable drinking water. DOE selected 20 teams as winners of the CONCEPT Stage of the prize.
Latest Data Book Shows U.S. Renewable Capacity Surpassed 20% for First Time in 2018
New edition also shows continued growth in U.S. installed wind and solar photovoltaic capacity, energy storage, and electric vehicle sales.
January 2020
Water Resource Recovery Prize Launches to Inspire Innovators to Help Meet the Water Security Grand Challenge
DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office launched the Water Resource Recovery Prize, a $1 million two-phased competition designed to increase resource recovery from municipal wastewater treatment plants across the U.S.
News Release: NREL Opens Prize Designed to Generate Solutions for Protecting Fish from Water Power Structures
Today, NREL announced the opening of a new prize competition — the Fish Protection Prize — designed to generate innovative methods for keeping fish out of water diversions and dam intakes. The movement of fish into water infrastructure separates fish from their natural habitat and can impact native populations, threaten biodiversity, and impede recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species.
Declining Renewable Costs Drive Focus on Energy Storage
An oft-repeated refrain—the sun doesn't always shine, is sometimes seen as an impediment to renewable energy. But it's also an impetus toward discovering the best ways to store that energy until it's needed.
December 2019
Modeling Tomorrow's Energy Infrastructure Today: Researchers model electricity systems for future resource and climate uncertainty
A new modeling approach takes future climate and water resource conditions into account for long-term electricity generation infrastructure planning.
Powering the Next Wave of Energy Converter Devices
A multiyear system design and validation project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office reached completion in 2019 and resulted in increased knowledge about development and validation of wave energy converter devices and their associated materials.
Setbacks Are No Setback for Marine Energy Development: A U.S. Submarine Cable Analysis
The ocean may very well be the next frontier, and two major industries—telecommunications and marine renewable energy—are already employing and exploring this vital asset. Vital to both telecom and marine renewable energy development is careful planning to accommodate their respective operations, as well as those of other users of the ocean.
FAST Grand Prize Winners Make Progress on Pumped Storage Research
Team Wittmeyer-Dasgupta of the Southwest Research Institute won a Furthering Advancements to Shorten Time (FAST) Commissioning for Pumped-Storage Hydropower Prize for a modular steel concept for dams that reduces costs by one-third and cuts construction schedules in half.
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Last Updated May 5, 2025