US: Secretary Moniz Awards $125 Million for 41 Transformational Energy Technology Projects Ahead of COP21 in Paris

These new projects are funded under ARPA-E’s OPEN 2015 program and come in advance of the COP21 U.N. Climate Negotiations in Paris next week. The announcement was made at D.C. technology incubator 1776 at an event that focused on leveraging America’s top innovators to find technological solutions to combat climate change, enhance security and solve pressing energy challenges around the globe.

Open solicitations – also issued in 2009 and 2012 - serve as an open call to scientists and engineers for transformational technologies across the entire scope of ARPA-E’s energy mission. Through both open and focused solicitations, ARPA-E funds innovative technologies that display promise for both technical and commercial impact, but are too early for private-sector investment. The OPEN 2015 projects come from 21 states and encompass 10 technical categories, including transportation, electricity generation and delivery and energy efficiency.

“The ARPA-E projects selected today highlight how American ingenuity can spur innovation and generate a wide range of technology options to address our nation’s most pressing energy issues,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “As we look beyond COP21, the energy technologies the Department of Energy invests in today will provide the solutions needed to combat climate change and develop a global low-carbon economy in the future.”

To view the complete list of selected OPEN 2015 projects, please visit: http://go.usa.gov/cTHVW

The 41 projects selected under OPEN 2015 will pursue novel approaches to energy innovation across the full spectrum of energy applications, with approximately 36 percent of the projects led by universities, 39 percent by small businesses, 10 percent by large businesses, 10 percent by national labs, and 5 percent by non-profits.

Examples of the new projects are below:

EHD Innovative Low-Cost Offshore Wind Energy

Accio Energy, Inc. | Ann Arbor, MI | $4,500,000

Accio Energy, Inc. will develop and demonstrate an Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) turbine-less wind energy system that harvests energy through physical separation of charge. The technology uses the wind to separate a mist of positively charged water droplets from excess electrons that form a high voltage direct current source. The team’s innovative approach could create an entirely new option for low-cost offshore wind.

50 MW Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotors for Wind Energy

University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA | $3,569,580

The team led by the University of Virginia will design a 50 Megawatt (MW) wind turbine featuring downwind morphing to reduce blade loads and allow ultralight segmented blades. They will also build and field test an aeroelastically-scaled version to demonstrate this novel technology. The 50 MW turbine design could enable a 10x increase in power compared to today’s largest production turbines. The 200-meter long blades can be fabricated in five to seven  segments, and assembled at the point of use. The hurricane-resistant design can enable low-cost, offshore wind energy for the United States.