US: Accio Energy Awarded $4.5 Million from ARPA-E for Transformational Offshore Wind Energy Technology

The funding will be used to support Accio Energy’s transformational work developing utility-scale electrohydrodynamic (EHD) wind energy generation systems offering much lower cost offshore energy with a higher capacity factor and significant siting advantages.

“We are thrilled to have the support of ARPA-E in taking the next big step in developing this advanced energy technology that can overcome the cost and siting hurdles limiting the harvest of abundant offshore wind. This work will enable a first-ever sub-commercial scale validation of EHD power generation offshore using EHD technology and position EHD to move towards commercialization,” said Jennifer Baird, CEO, Accio Energy.

The Principal Investigator for the project is Dr. Dawn White, Founder, President, and CTO of Accio Energy, an established start-up that is the world leader in this transformational wind harvesting approach. The Accio Energy team is partnering with the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center to design, build, and test progressive prototypes and develop offshore validation of performance, scalability, and operability in real world conditions.

Accio Energy received this competitive award from ARPA-E’s 2015 OPEN program, which seeks to ensure that the agency has an opportunity to support innovative energy R&D that falls outside of the topics of its focused technology programs. The objective of the ARPA-E OPEN solicitation is to support the development of potentially disruptive new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications.

EHD technology uses the wind to separate a mist of positively charged water droplets from excess electrons that form a high voltage direct current source. EHD systems will operate on seawater; be built using high-volume, low-cost automotive heritage advance manufacturing; offer deep-water deployment options and radar compatibility; and be sufficiently robust to survive expected storm conditions. Accio Energy has demonstrated EHD at laboratory scale and commercially relevant power densities. The team’s innovative approach could create an entirely new option for low-cost offshore wind to accelerate development of the offshore wind market in the U.S. and globally to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change risks.