NREL announces new $3M marine-energy prize and Waves to Water winners

In Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory announced a new $3 million prize that will help generate innovation in marine-energy-powered ocean-observing platforms is now open for applications and also announced the 20 winners for the CONCEPT Stage of the Waves to Water Prize competition, which is the first prize administered as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Security Grand Challenge.

The Powering the Blue Economy: Ocean Observing Prize will provide a new opportunity for the innovation community to develop marine energy technologies that enable more persistent and pervasive ocean measurements, working in partnership with end users in the ocean-observing community to address energy challenges.

The Ocean Observing Prize will consist of a series of competitions to encourage the development of new energy solutions that meet the needs of ocean researchers, agencies, explorers, and other end users that operate ocean-observing technologies. NREL is working closely with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Water Power Technologies Office, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide technical and engineering support for prize activities, as well as develop strategic partnerships with the ocean-observing community, blue economy clusters and accelerators, and the clean-tech community.