[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25286-25287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10409]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Wave Energy Prize

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy.

ACTION: Notice of the Wave Energy Prize.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of the 
availability of the Wave Energy Prize and of DOE's responses to public 
comments on the draft Prize Rules and Prize Terms and Conditions. The 
prize is designed to achieve game-changing performance enhancements to 
wave energy conversion (WEC) devices, establishing a pathway to 
sweeping cost reductions on a commercial scale. The prize consists of 
three phases--design, build, and test and evaluation. Prize purses to 
the winner(s): Grand Prize ($1,500,000), 2nd Place Finisher ($500,000), 
and 3rd Place Finisher ($250,000).

DATES: DOE launches the Wave Energy Prize and opens the Prize for 
public registration on May 1, 2015. The Winner(s) of the Prize, if any, 
is expected to be announced by the end of 2016. All dates are subject 
to change.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons can register for the Wave Energy Prize at 
waveenergyprize.org on the ``Register'' page. The final Prize Rules, 
the final Prize Terms and Conditions, and DOE's responses to public 
comments on the draft Prize Rules and Prize Terms and Conditions, can 
all be found are found under the ``Rules'' tab of the ``About'' page. 
Please submit questions and comments to: waveenergyprize.org">info@waveenergyprize.org.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please submit questions and comments 
to: waveenergyprize.org">info@waveenergyprize.org.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 
2010 (America COMPETES), Public Law 111-358, enacted January 4, 2011, 
authorizes Federal agencies to issue competitions to stimulate 
innovations in technology, education, and science. The Wave Energy 
Prize leverages the America COMPETES Act to provide incentives to 
design, build, and test innovative WEC concepts.
    DOE launches the Wave Energy Prize, a public prize challenge 
sponsored by DOE's Water Power Program. The prize is designed to 
increase the diversity of organizations involved in WEC technology 
development, while motivating and inspiring existing stakeholders. DOE 
envisions this competition will achieve game-changing performance 
enhancements to WEC devices, establishing a pathway to sweeping cost 
reductions on a commercial scale.
    The wave energy industry is young and is experiencing many new 
innovations as evidenced by a sustained growth in patent activity. 
While the private industry is developing these early-concept WEC 
devices through design and benchtop prototype testing, funding is hard 
to secure for performance testing and evaluation of WEC devices in wave 
tanks at a meaningful scale. This is a problem for the industry since 
scaled WEC prototype tank testing, validation, and evaluation are key 
steps in the advancement of WEC technologies through the technical 
readiness levels to reach commercialization.
    Goal of the Wave Energy Prize: The Wave Energy Prize will encourage 
the development of more efficient WEC devices that double the energy 
captured from ocean waves, which in turn will reduce the cost of wave 
energy, making it more competitive with traditional energy solutions.
    Economic impact of the Wave Energy Prize: A successful Wave Energy 
Prize could jump-start private sector innovation critical to the 
country's long-term economic growth, energy security, and international 
competitiveness in the wave energy conversion sector.
    Why participate in the Wave Energy Prize? The Wave Energy Prize 
seeks to attract innovative ideas from developers new to the industry 
and next-generation ideas from existing developers by offering a 
monetary prize purse and providing an opportunity for tank testing and 
evaluation of scaled WEC device prototypes at the U.S. Navy's 
Maneuvering and Seakeeping Basin (MASK) facility in Carderock, MD.
    Eligibility: U.S. entities are able to participate in the Wave 
Energy Prize. This includes U.S. persons and companies as well as 
foreign companies that are incorporated in and maintain a primary place 
of business in the United States. Full eligibility requirements for the 
Wave Energy Prize are set in accordance with those established by 
America COMPETES, and are fully outlined in the Wave Energy Prize Rules

[[Page 25287]]

document available at waveenergyprize.org.
    Selection of winner(s): Average Climate Capture Width per 
Characteristic Capital Expenditure (ACE) has been selected by the Wave 
Energy Prize as a reduced content metric that is a proxy for levelized 
cost of energy. To be eligible for consideration for prize purses, WEC 
devices tested during the Prize must exceed a threshold value of ACE of 
three meters per million dollars, representing a 100% increase, or 
doubling, of ACE above the current ``state of the art'' in 
representative sea states and deep water. WEC devices that surpass the 
ACE threshold will be ranked according to their Hydrodynamic 
Performance Quality (HPQ), a metric that holistically evaluates WEC 
performance and reliability. This HPQ ranking will be used to determine 
the Grand Prize Winner, 2nd Place Finisher, and 3rd Place Finisher of 
the Wave Energy Prize. Further details on these technical requirements 
are available in the Prize Rules and Terms and Conditions at 
waveenergyprize.org.

    Issued on April 27, 2015 in Washington, DC.
Jos[eacute] Zayas,
Director, Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2015-10409 Filed 5-1-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P