The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office (WWPTO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Water Power Manufacturing”.
This FOA supports the application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to the development of new hydropower technologies. With the significant advancements realized over the last decade, the application of advanced materials, and Computer Aided Design (CAD) driven, additive manufacturing technologies can effectively push the performance and speed the adoption of new hydropower technologies.
There is a significant opportunity to substantially increase hydropower generation at low-head sites in the US and around the world (“low-head” = sites with heads in the range of 2-20 meters, or 6-66 feet). These “new” hydropower opportunities, which are typically capable of generating between 100 kW - 30 MW, are readily present at existing non-powered dams, and existing constrained waterways (to include canals and conduits). The ability to leverage existing water resource infrastructure makes these sites particularly attractive from an economic and permitting perspective. For example, these sites (non-powered dams and constrained waterways) tend to have roads and transmission lines already established on-site (or at least within close-proximity), and as the core infrastructure is already in place (dams and/or man-made conduits and canals), there would be minimal environmental impact due to the addition of a hydropower unit.
The development of low-cost, integrated hydropower turbine-generator sets capable of delivering cost-competitive electricity from these resources and within these head ranges is critical to fully exploit this emerging global opportunity. The following criteria are considered essential design elements in this regard:
• Modular, self-contained units: hydropower turbine-generator units should be relatively lightweight and be designed to be readily packaged to ease shipment and installation upon delivery.
• Variable Speed: High efficiency across a range of flows.
• Cost Competitive: Capital costs at full-scale production runs of less than $2k/kW, and an LCOE of $0.06/kW-hr or less: Systems must be able to compete with local hurdle rates.
• Minimize costs of manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and repair: The application of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing techniques to maximize the efficiency of unit production; and improve performance, survivability, and reparability of hydro turbine generator sets should yield cost-competitive, high performance systems with broad applicability.
• Ecologically non-disruptive: turbine/generator units should not have a significantly deleterious effect on marine life compared to the existing resource and infrastructure.
The purpose of this Notice is to provide potential applicants advance notice that the Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, on behalf of EERE intends to issue a FOA titled, “Water Power Manufacturing”. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this Notice of Intent. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange no later than April 2014.
This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.