The funds will be used to advance hydropower drivetrains, which transfer rotational energy from turbines to generators, as well as structural foundations to reduce environmental impacts and lifetime costs associated with operating and maintaining new hydropower projects.
The US is seeking to develop a wide variety of technological innovations for new hydropower which include rapidly deployable and removable hydropower technologies, such as prefabricated structures, water impoundment structures, and water conveyance systems.
Additional technologies include innovative methods and materials for the construction of hydropower facilities and innovative hydropower powertrain and generator components, including advanced composite materials and replaceable turbine blade technologies.
The funding is a part of the Energy Department’s broader Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, which intends to boost US manufacturing competitiveness across the board by increasing energy productivity.
Hydropower currently accounts to about 7% of the total power generation in the US, which has an additional 65GW of hydropower potential in undeveloped rivers and streams and more than 12GW of hydropower potential, if fully developed, at non-powered dams, according to recent Energy Department reports.
