During the Clean Currents conference, the Water Power Technologies Office kicked off the Hydropower Collegiate Competition, hosted competitors for the H2Os Prize, featured talks from national laboratory researchers at the DOE booth, and more.
Water Power Technologies Office
November 15, 2023
minute read time
During this year's Clean Currents conference, which the National Hydropower Association hosted in October, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) kicked off the Hydropower Collegiate Competition (HCC), hosted competitors for the final phase of the Hydropower Operations Optimization (H2Os) Prize, featured talks from national laboratory researchers at the DOE booth, and more. Keep scrolling to see some spotlight-worthy moments!
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Alison Colotelo delivers a flash talk about the Hydropower Vision Roadmap at the DOE booth during the first day of the conference.
WPTO hosted a broad range of flash talks and demos at the DOE booth. Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory presented on various water power topics. From the Hydropower Vision Roadmap to cybersecurity and fleet intelligence, hydropower challenges, solutions, and innovations took center stage. Speakers covered a range of topics including:
- Current challenges and best practices to achieve successful small hydropower grid interconnection (the application process to connect a project to the grid).
- Pumped storage hydropower's (PSH) potential to efficiently store large amounts of energy and improve grid resiliency throughout Alaska.
- Performance and financial models designed to estimate the cost of wave and tidal energy systems that convert the energy of ocean waves or tides into electricity.
WPTO Director Jennifer Garson presents at the opening plenary during Clean Currents 2023.
WPTO Director Jennifer Garson also unveiled the new Hydropower Vision Roadmap. The roadmap details the technical, economic, and institutional actions needed to optimize hydropower's contribution to clean energy generation while preserving natural resources. This roadmap builds on DOE's Hydropower Vision published in 2016.
HCC kick-off activities were in full swing at Clean Currents. In the 2024 HCC, student-led teams are focused on solutions to convert non-powered dams to hydroelectric dams. Activities at Clean Currents introduced competitors to conversations and research around retrofitting non-powered dams for electricity production, highlighted ways to work with their local communities, and provided opportunities to network with experts across the industry.
The H2Os Prize final, in-person competition and awards ceremony were held alongside the conference programming. During the live event, teams acted as river basin managers, competing to find the best water release schedules. They were also challenged to respond to an unexpected wildfire in the vicinity of the river basin. Clean Currents attendees celebrated competitors at the plenary, where WPTO Director Jennifer Garson announced the grand prize winner. During the prize awards ceremony, WPTO announced all the winning teams, which were recognized for their top-ranking solutions.
Leading up to Clean Currents, WPTO, working with researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, released the fourth edition of the U.S. Hydropower Market Report. The report highlights key developments across multiple sectors of the hydropower industry, providing a comprehensive picture of developments in the U.S. hydropower and PSH fleet and industry trends. The report discusses:
- Growing PSH investment internationally and interest in new PSH development domestically.
- A likely trend toward adding battery capacity to existing facilities.
- Significant hydropower capacity growth from non-powered dam retrofits.
- Supply chain issues with turbine-generator units and steel castings.
In the report, researchers also provide updates on development pipelines, permitting and relicensing activity, refurbishment and upgrade investments, and generation.
Did you know WPTO hosts events, too? Check out the office's upcoming webinars!
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