ARIES Platform Has Essential Capabilities To Emulate and De-Risk Marine Energy Systems for Range of Applications Energy from ocean waves has the potential to power offshore and coastal microgrids for applications like recharging autonomous underwater vehicles, supporting ocean sensors and aquaculture, and securing local power for remote communities. But to … [continued]
Marking the opening of PacWave South on Aug. 27, leaders from Oregon State University, the U.S. Department of Energy, Congress, and the Oregon Legislature joined PacWave Director Dan Hellin (far right) for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the nation’s first grid-connected, pre-permitted open-ocean wave energy test facility. Photo from Darryl Lai, Oregon State University.
NLR and Partners Unveil America’s First Pre-Permitted Proving Ground for Commercial-Scale Wave Energy Converters on Oregon Coast By Karen Petersen, NLR On Aug. 27, the nation’s first grid-connected, internationally accredited open-ocean wave energy test facility made its debut on the Oregon coast. The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) marked … [continued]
NLR and University of Hawaii Deploy Wave Energy Device, Capturing and Sharing Data for Marine Energy Industry By Samantha Cuneo, NLR Like a surfer, the Small Underwater Research Flap Wave Energy Converter, or SURF-WEC, rides the ocean’s waves—but this system converts wave motion into electricity. The WEC recently made the leap … [continued]
Wind turbines and solar panels got the thumbs-down from US President Donald Trump, but the new PacWave South wave energy test bed somehow survived the chopper.
IN WESTERN markets, the transformation of legacy retail networks relies heavily on open-hardware procurement and large-scale software integration. Energy giant BP Pulse made waves by purchasing 100 million dollars worth of Tesla Supercharger hardware, equipping its retail sites with specialized adapters to support both North American Charging Standard and Combined … [continued]
Members of the University of Southern California team celebrate their win in the 2026 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition. Photo from Sarah Yeoman, Yeoman Photo LLC.
Top Teams Claim Prizes at 2026 Hydropower and Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Final Events, and DOE Welcomes a Record 45 Teams for the 2027 Season Two teams have snagged the top prizes in the 2026 Hydropower and Marine Energy Collegiate Competition finals, and 45 others have risen to the top … [continued]
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) researcher Alec Schnabel tests the custom-built charge controller in the Water Power Instrumentation Laboratory on NLR's Flatirons Campus. Photo by Taylor Mankle, National Laboratory of the Rockies.
Latest HERO WEC Mission Status Update Examines How New Charge Controller Design Addresses Critical Challenge in Wave Energy Industry Since 2024, researchers at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) have been improving the overall design of NLR’s hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis wave energy converter—or HERO WEC. Their work aims … [continued]
ChatGPT generated image of a CorPower array contrasted with a much more bankable, lower maintenance offshore wind turbine
After publishing on a wave energy proposal for offshore data centers, I received a useful challenge. A reader pointed to CorPower Ocean as a counterexample. That was worth taking seriously. CorPower is not a render-first startup selling a fantasy of floating artificial intelligence infrastructure in the deep Pacific. It has … [continued]
ChatGPT generated image of offshore wave generation unit AI inference engine communicating with low-earth orbit satellites
I have been seeing LinkedIn posts about Panthalassa’s wave-powered AI data-center concept recently, and the reaction they’ve been getting is familiar. Big funding round. AI power bottleneck. Ocean energy. No grid connection. No land constraint. Autonomous machines. A new category. It had all the ingredients of a story built to … [continued]
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) and Sandia National Laboratories researchers gather at NLR's Flatirons Campus to test and refine open-source modeling tools, such as WEC-Sim, to simulate wave energy converters with greater accuracy and flexibility so developers can predict performance and reduce risk before deploying devices in the ocean. Photo by Taylor Mankle, National Laboratory of the Rockies.
Modeling Advancements Could Help Developers Build More Robust, Seaworthy Devices Wave energy technologies can provide reliable, local power for autonomous underwater vehicles, and at-sea applications across U.S. coastal regions, especially where traditional energy supply is limited or costly. Although some wave energy devices have demonstrated promising performance, most are still … [continued]
