The U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) envisions a U.S. marine energy industry that expands and diversifies the nation’s energy portfolio by responsibly delivering power from ocean and river resources. Marine energy technologies capture energy from waves, tides, river and ocean currents, and even differences in ocean salt levels, pressure, and temperature.
Despite the challenges of operating in a harsh, corrosive environment, marine energy is at an inflection point in the United States. U.S. developers have conducted significant field tests, and developers in Europe are even further along in proving out their technologies. Historically, the industry’s and WPTO’s focus has been on proving performance and reliability for the U.S. grid. As technology performance and operations continue to be vetted, the next opportunity will be focusing on optimization and reducing costs.
The following is a list by year of WPTO-funded field tests of marine energy devices of different scales and types.
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2024
- The National Renewable Energy Laboratory deploys the upgraded HERO WEC off Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina, in March 2024.
- C-Power's SeaRAY device is redeployed in July 2024 after the company performs upgrades and modifications.
C-Power's SeaRAY Device -
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2023
- ORPC deploys two different Modular RivGen devices in Millinocket, Maine, in January and May 2023. They ultimately are tested together.
ORPC's RivGen Device -
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- Littoral Power tests a tidal energy device at the Bourne Tidal Test Site in Massachusetts in April 2023.
- C-Power completes an in-harbor test of the SeaRay device in May 2023 at WETS and is fully deployed in October 2023. It is pulled after 2 weeks of in water activity for modifications.
- ORPC also deploys its TidGen system in Cobscook Bay, Maine,E in May 2023.
- BladeRunner Energy tests their its hydrokinetic device at the Tanana River Test Site in Alaska in July and August 2023.
- Triton Systems deploys its wave energy converter prototype off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in August 2023.
Triton Systems Wave Energy Converter -
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- Ocean Motion Technologies performs a pilot test of their device in Washington’s Puget Sound in August 2023.
Ocean Motion Technologies Device -
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- Oscilla Power tows its Triton-C wave energy converter to WETS where it is moored while waiting for a testing window in August 2023.
Oscilla Power's Triton-C WEC -
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- University of Washington deploys its Turbine Lander system in October 2023 at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Sequim Bay testing site in Washington. It runs successfully alongside an environmental monitoring system from MarineSitu through March 2024.
- Oscilla Power installs a 1/6-scale prototype of its 1 MW Triton wave energy converter in Castine Harbor, Maine, in December 2023.
Oscilla's Prototype-
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2022
- As of January 2022, Verdant Power decommissions the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy test site.
- Researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory perform two deployments of the hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis (HERO) wave energy converter off Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina. The first is a single-day test in February 2022, followed by a 10-day deployment in August with two new sensors aboard.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory's HERO WEC -
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- In April 2022, the final event of the Waves to Water Prize involves the open-water test of four wave-powered desalination devices. The devices—from finalists Oneka, Mark Zero Prototypes, WATER BROS, and Project 816—all successfully produce clean, drinkable water.
- Ocean Motion Technologies deploys a prototype wave energy converter that can generate power from passing waves created by boat wakes in San Diego, California.
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2021
- Verdant Power retrieves and replaces one of the three tidal turbines on its TriFrame™ mount in May 2021. The turbine is replaced with one that has three thermoplastic blades, designed and manufactured by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Verdant Power's TriFrame with thermoplastic blades -
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- Littoral Power Systems performs a two-day test of its tidal turbine in June 2021 at the Bourne Tidal Test Site in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
- The Alaska Center for Energy and Power performs a 10-day test of Renerge Inc.'s Water Horse hydrokinetic energy harvester on the Tanana River in Alaska in August 2021.
- ORPC replaces its initial RivGen® Power System device with a new one in September 2021. The first device is refurbished and redeployed in parallel with the new one in 2022 with support from the DOE Office of Indian Energy.
- CalWave deploys its xWave prototype wave energy converter off the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography research pier in San Diego, California, in September 2021. The device is retrieved in July 2022.
Cal Wave's xWave Prototype -
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2020
- ORPC removes the RivGen® Power System from the Kvichak River for summer inspection and maintenance before redeploying it in October. At this point, it is the longest operating current energy converter in the United States.
- Verdant Power installs three tidal power turbines at the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy site in New York's East River in October 2020.
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2019
- In October, ORPC and the Igiugig Village Council install the first commercial version of the RivGen® Power System.
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2018
- Northwest Energy Innovations redeploys a modified version of its Azura device at WETS in February 2018 with support from the United States Navy. It is recovered in August 2018, once again needing little maintenance intervention.
- The University of New Hampshire deploys a tidal turbine to power systems associated with the Living Bridge Project in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in June 2018.
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2015
- Northwest Energy Innovations deploys the Azura (a renamed and modified version of its Wave Energy Technology-New Zealand device) in June 2015 at the Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) in Hawaii. The test concludes in December 2016 with very little maintenance intervention required over the 18-month deployment.
- ORPC deploys the 2015 RivGen® Power System Demonstration Project in the Kvichak River at the Village of Igiugig, Alaska, in July 2015.
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2014
- Oscilla Power designs and constructs a modular, scalable wave energy converter and tests it off the coast of New Hampshire in August 2014.
- ORPC deploys the RivGen Power system in summer 2014 in the Kvichak River in Igiugig, Alaska.
- M3 Wave tests its Delos-Reyes Morrow Pressure Device off the coast of Oregon in September 2014.
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2012
- FloDesign, with support from the University of New Hampshire Center for Ocean Renewable Energy, completes a short demonstration test of its hydrokinetic turbine in the Muskeget Channel in Massachusetts.
- Northwest Energy Innovations deploys the Wave Energy Technology-New Zealand in August 2012 at the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (now the Pacific Marine Energy Center) off the coast of Oregon.
- Verdant Power deploys a tidal turbine for a 10-day test in September 2012 in the East River near New York City, New York.
- ORPC tests its TidGen® Power System in Cobscook Bay, Maine, from September 2012 to July 2013.
- Vortex Hydro performs open-water testing of a hydrofoil device in the St. Clair River in Port Huron, Michigan. It is deployed in September 2012 and remains in the water for two weeks.
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2011
- Columbia Power Technologies' SeaRAY prototype wave energy converter is deployed in February 2011 in Puget Sound, Washington.
- Free Flow Power deploys an in-stream hydrokinetic turbine in the Mississippi River in June 2011 near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Resolute Marine Energy completes ocean trials of a wave energy converter prototype off Jennette's Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina.
