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HERO WEC - Waves to Water Prize
In less than two years’ time, a multidisciplinary research team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) designed, built, and lab tested a novel technology: the hydraulic and electric reverse osmosis (HERO) wave energy converter (WEC). In February 2022, the NREL team, in collaboration with the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI)—the partner for the final stage of the Waves to Water Prize, as well as the marine operations partner—successfully deployed their prototype device at Jennette’s Pier. The goal of this exercise was to ensure the efficiency and safety of device installation and removal—for the divers and CSI crew, as well as the Waves to Water Prize competitors.
Additional Information
Project Status
Is the project actively being planned or is deployed in the water (active)? Or was the project canceled or completed (inactive)?
Active
Project Life Cycle
Project Progress through life cycle:
- Planned: Project has identified a deployment location and is preparing for deployment
- Operational: Project is deployed in the water and is active
- Completed: Project was previously deployed in the water
- Decommissioned: Installation has been fully removed in accordance with regulations
- Canceled: Project was canceled before being deployed in the water
Operational
Operational Duration
February 2022 - August 2022
Project Start Year
2020
Energy Resource
- Wave
Project Scale
Full-scale
Number of Devices
1
Grid Connectivity
Not Grid Connected
Waterbody
Outer Banks, North Carolina
Site Characteristics
Geographic characterization for the project location:
- Open Ocean: Main body of ocean, not enclosed or partially enclosed by land
- Coastal: Open water near the coast, spanning between land and shelf boundary
- Enclosed Bay: water that is partially surrounded by land, with a mouth open to larger water
- Constricted Channel: A channel where water flows quickly due to narrowing by the land
- River: Water flowing from land towards a larger body of water
Coastal
Country
United States
Last Modified
10 June 2025
This Project has the following MRE Devices
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Citation Formats
“HERO WEC - Waves to Water Prize.” Marine Energy Projects Database: Projects, PRIMRE, United States Department of Energy, https://openei.org/wiki/PRIMRE/Databases/Projects_Database/Projects/HERO_WEC_-_Waves_to_Water_Prize. Accessed <day> <monthRoman> <year>.
Marine Energy Projects Database: Projects. <year>. "HERO WEC - Waves to Water Prize." Accessed <monthRoman> <day>, <year>. https://openei.org/wiki/PRIMRE/Databases/Projects_Database/Projects/HERO_WEC_-_Waves_to_Water_Prize.
