Brush up on water power basics to learn how hydropower and marine energy could be key players in ensuring clean, affordable, sustainable energy.
Water Power Technologies Office
October 29, 2024
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October is National Energy Awareness Month—a time to recognize the critical role that energy plays in our country’s economic and environmental well-being. And water power is a key player in that clean energy landscape! From inland waterways to coastal shores, and the deep seas beyond, the energy generated from the movement of water will play an essential role in creating a sustainable, reliable grid and even powering activities out at sea.
Here are five facts about water power from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO).
The term “water power” includes hydropower and marine energy.
Hydropower and marine energy are sources of renewable energy that harness power from the movement of water.
Hydropower uses the elevation difference created by a dam or diversion structure. Water flows in one side and exits at a lower point, spinning a turbine, which runs a generator and produces electricity. Meanwhile, marine energy refers to power harnessed from waves, tides, ocean and river currents, and even from differences in ocean salt levels, temperatures, and pressure.
Curious about WPTO’s hydropower and marine energy work?
Hydropower is one of the nation’s largest sources of renewable energy, and the United States is home to abundant marine energy resources.
In the United States, hydropower accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s utility-scale renewable energy production. It helps ensure electricity grids remain reliable and stable as they evolve to incorporate more variable renewable energy sources like wind energy and solar power, underscoring the importance of maintaining existing facilities and expanding hydropower.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the total available marine energy resource is equivalent to nearly 60% of U.S. power generation. Even if only a small percentage of that technical resource potential is captured, marine energy technologies would make significant contributions to the nation’s energy needs.
Water power will play a key role in providing clean, sustainable energy for the United States.
There are nearly 2,300 conventional hydropower dams in operation in the United States, and hydropower has the capacity to grow through the modernization of existing facilities and the development of new ones. One of the best opportunities to add more hydropower to the grid is by adding power-generating infrastructure to existing dams. Of the more than 90,000 dams in the United States, less than 3% generate power.
In 2023, pumped storage hydropower (PSH) accounted for 96% of the nation’s total utility-scale energy storage. PSH relies on two reservoirs of water, one at a higher elevation than the other. During periods of high energy production, excess energy can be used to pump water up into the higher reservoir. At times of high demand, PSH facilities can release water from that higher reservoir into the lower pool. When the water flows downhill, it spins a turbine that runs a generator to produce clean electricity. That storage will continue to be key to balancing variable renewable energy sources like wind and solar to create a resilient grid.
Marine energy could also play an important role in increasing the resilience of many remote, coastal, and island communities’ local energy grids, reducing the need to import other fuel sources and supporting other blue economy applications.
Want to learn more about PSH?
Technology developers and researchers are working to develop hydropower and marine energy in a sustainable way.
Hydropower and marine energy technologies can power communities with clean energy, but we must be mindful of the ecosystems that these technologies are placed in. That’s why WPTO funds innovative research to monitor, mitigate, and measure environmental impacts and benefits of water power technologies.
Efforts focused on fish protection and low-impact hydropower (or technology innovations that enable the sustainable growth of additional hydropower capacity and generation) can help sustain the health of rivers and their ecosystems. For example, adding technologies like fish ladders and other systems can help fish and other aquatic species navigate hydropower facilities safely while reducing environmental impact.
Because marine energy technologies are still relatively new, WPTO funds research to learn how to responsibly deploy marine energy devices so they can coexist with wildlife and their ecosystems. For example, researchers are developing and using sensors to monitor how marine life reacts to underwater noise and electromagnetic fields that devices may produce.
Want to take a closer look at water power and the environment?
WPTO supports research and development to advance hydropower and marine energy technologies and efforts to develop the water power workforce.
WPTO supports the research, development, and testing of hydropower and marine energy technologies through a variety of funding and technical assistance opportunities. For example, WPTO provides technical assistance for marine energy developers through the Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research program, and the new Hydropower Testing Network connects hydropower technology developers with testing capabilities. (Applications for developers to receive support through the Hydropower Testing Network are due Oct. 30, 2024!)
The office also supports research and development that will help modernize and upgrade the country’s existing hydropower facilities. For example, working with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, WPTO offers a technical collaboration opportunity for industry partners interested in developing innovative hydropower technologies using advanced materials and manufacturing.
Finally, WPTO is helping engage the next-generation hydropower and marine energy workforces through a variety of initiatives, including the Hydropower and Marine Energy collegiate competitions and classroom-ready educational resources. Because we’re going to need a lot more human power to manage all our water power!
Interested in recent marine energy device deployments or learning more about the collegiate competitions?
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