WPTO made investments in projects at national laboratories, academic institutions, and industry to help advance hydropower’s role in a clean electricity grid.
Water Power Technologies Office
March 1, 2023
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Notable New Fiscal Year 2022 Hydropower Funding Opportunities
Project Names: HydroWIRES Laboratory Call and Technology Innovation to Increase Hydropower Flexibility Funding Opportunity
Selectees: Laboratory Call: Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Funding Opportunity: General Electric Research, Littoral Power Systems, Inc., and Oregon State University
Selectee Locations: Laboratory Call: Lemont, Illinois; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Golden, Colorado; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Richland, Washington; Funding Opportunity: Niskayuna, New York; New Bedford, Massachusetts; Corvallis, Oregon
In Fiscal Year 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) made investments through its HydroWIRES Initiative focused on advancing hydropower’s contributions to grid resilience. In November 2021, WPTO announced $16 million in projects across five national laboratories. These projects will create tools and products to support the industry’s decision-making abilities. For example, these projects will enable the U.S. hydropower community to more accurately model future water availability, evaluate opportunities for adding hydropower to non-powered dams, and understand how to operate hydropower to mitigate wildfires’ impacts to the power grid.
In May 2022, WPTO awarded $8 million across three projects for its first HydroWIRES-focused funding opportunity, which solicited projects to increase hydropower flexibility. By increasing hydropower’s flexibility, these projects will strengthen hydropower’s ability to support an electric grid that increasingly relies on variable renewable energy sources.
Notable New Fiscal Year 2022 Hydropower Funding Opportunities
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A total of $13.5 million was distributed as incentive payments among 55 hydroelectric facilities, a record, through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydroelectric Production Incentive Program. -
WPTO made investments in projects at national laboratories, academic institutions, and industry to help advance hydropower’s role in a clean electricity grid.
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