WATER POWER TECHNOLOGIES OFFICE
WPTO Announces $4.3 Million in Technical Assistance for the Hydropower Community

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) today (June 28) announced selections for $4.3 million in technical assistance projects through the HydroWIRES Initiative to aid the hydropower community in making well-informed decisions while achieving broader benefits for the electricity grid.

These 10 technical assistance projects will provide pumped storage hydropower (PSH) developers and other stakeholders with DOE national laboratory expertise and capabilities to address valuation hurdles in PSH project development and help the broader hydropower community address specific challenges related to the HydroWIRES mission.

Hydropower is one of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, accounting for 28.7% of total U.S. renewable electricity generation and about 6.2% of total U.S. electricity generation. Meanwhile, PSH accounted for 93% of utility-scale energy storage in the United States as of 2021. As the U.S. grid evolves to incorporate more variable renewable energy sources, such as solar power and wind energy, hydropower must be able to adapt to changing grid conditions to ensure the grid remains reliable and stable.

Each of the 10 projects will receive assistance valued between $100,000 to $1 million from technical assistance teams composed of subject-matter experts from one or more of the following DOE national laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

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