JULY 2024

National Oceans Month 2024

The CalWAve xWave is an example of a scaled wave energy converter, deployed in La Jolla, CA for testing. (Photo by CalWave)

June was National Oceans Month! 2024 marks the launch of a new multi-year action theme from the United Nations: Catalyzing Action for our Ocean and Climate. Through transformative collaboration, this theme emphasizes the creation of a healthy planet, as well as a just, equitable, and sustainable society. These goals can be accomplished through a number of means, including:

• Making the best use of existing climate solutions
• Accelerating a just transition to clean and renewable energy and reducing dependency on fossil fuel extraction
• Collaborating with and amplifying the voices of local leaders taking action within their communities 

Supporting this year’s theme, marine energy has potential to provide consistent, clean energy to the United States and beyond. Marine energy projects face challenges to deployment because of uncertainties related to the effects of devices on sensitive species, habitats, and environments. Triton aims to address data gaps by contributing valuable data and technologies that help build knowledge around potential environmental effects. From developing fish collision risk models to testing and developing approaches for understanding complex underwater noise emissions from devices, Triton’s many projects all work toward one mission—reducing barriers to testing and deployment of marine energy systems. For Triton, every month is Oceans Month! 

Specifically, wave energy is an ocean-based solution that holds a lot of promise for supplying carbon-free energy to coastal communities and the blue economy. Learn all about wave energy technologies, how they work, and how Triton’s work is helping get these devices in the water.

Field Notes: Update from Igiugig, Alaska 

Triton’s Garrett Staines smiling on the Kvichak River alongside partners from the Igiugig Village Council, Ocean Renewable Power Company, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (Photo courtesy of the Igiugig Village Tribal Stewardship Office) 

Triton researchers recently traveled to a remote community in Igiugig, Alaska, where they worked with community and project partners to conduct monitoring around Ocean Renewable Power Company RivGen^® Power System riverine turbines for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) Environmental Monitoring Campaign (EMC). EMC is a Water Power Technologies Office project that also helps address environmental uncertainties related to marine energy systems by collecting data around operational devices throughout the United States. The campaign addresses environmental concerns and uncertainties identified in the Ocean Energy Systems (OES)-Environmental State of the Science using methodologies and technologies tested by Triton. EMC’s efforts aim to eliminate barriers for permitting and testing of marine energy in the future by filling data gaps through empirical observations and measurements around deployed devices.

While in Igiugig, the researchers deployed side-looking sonars nearby both upstream and downstream of two RivGen^® turbines to assess the collision risk of fish with current energy converters. The goal was to collect valuable data about how salmon smolt moved around the turbines during one of the largest salmon outmigrations in the world. This field deployment may also help fill critical knowledge gaps for Triton’s Probability of Encounter Model project, which uses these data to reduce uncertainties for models that estimate the risk of interactions between marine energy converters and fish. 

In Other Energy News

Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project 

PNNL is involved with many projects supporting Oceans Month and the theme of Catalyzing Action for our Ocean and Climate by working alongside local leaders to help communities take action toward sustainability. Through the Department of Energy’s Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project (ETIPP), PNNL researchers collaborate with and amplify the voices of remote and island communities to increase their energy resilience. ETIPP offers multi-year technical assistance to support communities in developing a customized approach to their energy transitions, including exploring options to utilize marine energy.

PNNL researchers have worked with a diverse array of communities to support energy resilience, including:

• Analyzing renewable energy options like solar and waterpower for Bainbridge Island, WA, to support their goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2040.
• Assessing the opportunities and challenges associated with integrating renewable energy into critical relocation planning and increasing energy sovereignty for the Makah Tribe. 
• Supporting the S’Klallam Tribe in conducting energy planning, assessing local energy resources, setting energy goals, and increasing staff capacity. 

Watch a video to learn more about PNNL’s work with ETIPP.

OES-Environmental 2024 State of the Science Report Public Comment

OES-Environmental has released a draft of the OES-Environmental 2024 State of the Science Report: Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development Around the World for public comment. The draft report serves as an update to the 2020 State of the Science Report and features several new sections, including resources to advance marine renewable energy and move beyond stressor–receptor interactions. Stay tuned for updates on the release of the final 2024 State of the Science Report! 

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Triton is designed to support the development and testing of more precise and cost-effective environmental monitoring technologies for marine energy. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory leads Triton on behalf of the Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office.

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