Marine Energy
Harnessing the power of the ocean
The ocean holds vast potential to provide reliable energy to meet the growing demand for electricity, improve resilience in remote coastal areas, sustain ocean sensing networks, and source critical materials for electronics and energy storage.
Energy from the ocean, or marine energy, is harnessed from the movement of ocean waves, tides, and currents, as well as thermal and salinity gradients. The energy in the ocean can be used for a variety of different purposes: from generating electricity for the electrical grid, to propelling ocean robots. U.S. ocean energy resources have the potential to generate 1,900 terawatt-hours of electricity annually—equivalent to roughly 45 percent of the energy generated in the United States in 2023, which was 4,180 terawatt-hours.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), other national laboratories, and universities are working with the private sector to understand marine energy opportunities and overcome technology, environmental, and operational challenges. Widespread deployment of marine energy could power a multitude of blue economy sectors and provide energy to coastal communities looking to improve energy resilience. Learn more about how marine researchers are advancing the ocean's role in a clean energy future in "Tied to the Ocean."
At PNNL, scientists and engineers apply their expertise to a broad array of topics, from modeling interactions of fluid flow on tidal turbine devices, to tracking marine animal interactions with wave energy devices. Researchers at PNNL played a leading role in identifying promising new applications for marine energy that could promote economic growth and a sustainable blue economy.
Marine energy is a promising, but challenging set of technologies; significant barriers must be overcome to make it financially attractive. At PNNL-Sequim, researchers are working to systematically address hurdles to marine energy deployment, both domestically and abroad.
The marine energy industry requires access to testing facilities to advance technologies before becoming commercially available and to develop operational strategies, such as tidal turbine technology. PNNL is lending technical expertise and facilities to organizations looking to test marine energy technologies through the Triton Initiative and the U.S. Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) Program. The Triton Initiative conducts environmental monitoring research focused on advancing marine energy device testing and deployments. Through the TEAMER Program, PNNL provides developers with access to facilities and expertise to test marine energy technologies. PNNL-Sequim offers a unique venue that can test small-scale prototypes of devices intended for utility applications, as well as full-scale devices intended for blue economy markets, such as ocean observing that uses assets like the hybrid research vessel R/V Resilience and the Cabled Research Array for the Blue Economy and Energy (CRABEE).
As research, testing, and initial deployments generate data and information, PNNL works to organize and connect knowledge within the research community, marine energy industry, the blue economy, and other interested stakeholders. To assist in finding information on marine energy research, PNNL developed Tethys and its associated knowledge hubs, such as Tethys Engineering. Tethys offers a collaborative virtual research space with access to databases and knowledge hubs related to marine energy. PNNL is also part of a team maintaining the Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMRE)—a data repository related to marine energy research and development activities.
PNNL conducts its marine energy research in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office. This research is also important to the Washington State Department of Commerce, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and other federal and state agencies.
PNNL research is helping advance marine energy as a reliable and predictable energy source for the future.
