Water Power Technical Collaboration Program
Updated:
Water Power Technical Collaboration Program for Advanced Manufacturing and Materials
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office (H2O) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are seeking participants for short-term collaborative projects to accelerate the development of innovative water power technologies, leveraging advanced manufacturing and materials (AMM). Here, waterpower technologies of interest include those that apply to hydropower plants, pumped storage hydropower, and marine energy. The Water Power Technical Collaboration Program for Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (the program) provides selected participants with access to the DOE's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at ORNL, including its world-leading experts in AMM research and cutting-edge equipment and capabilities to demonstrate the application of AMM to waterpower technologies. The program will allow companies to explore innovative and daring ideas with minimal investment and limited risk.
Access the linked resources below to get started. Scroll down for additional information about the program.
Program Background
Program Background
Motivation for the program stemmed from the ORNL Advanced Manufacturing for Hydropower project, in which a workshop attended by a group of industry leaders, researchers, and academicians was used to provide input on current challenges facing hydropower and how new technology could be best used to address them. ORNL researchers took the feedback from the workshop and used it as the basis for further study. Their work culminated in a report, Advanced Manufacturing and Materials for Hydropower: Challenges and Opportunities, and a guiding strategy document that was released by the H2O in February 2024.
The program supports the H2O’s mission by enabling research and development of novel AMM technologies for hydropower and marine energy applications. The program aims to reduce barriers to developing technologies applicable to hydropower and marine energy at low Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). This complements the H2O’s existing testing networks, HyTN (hydropower) and TEAMER (marine energy), which support technology development through higher TRLs. The program was launched in April 2024 with a focus specifically on hydropower applications and was expanded in July 2025 to include marine energy applications. The expansion of the program aimed to fill a marine energy industry need for support with manufacturing devices.
Through the new Water Power Technical Collaboration Program organizations can boost the performance and cost effectiveness of their technologies that apply to hydropower plants, pumped storage hydropower, and marine energy.
Learn more about this new initiative by watching an informational webinar that took place on Sept. 24, 2025. Click here to see the recording.
Program Basics
Technologies that apply to hydropower plants, pumped storage hydropower, and marine energy are eligible.
Short-term projects lasting six to 18 months.
Cost-share required, but no money is exchanged. Both ORNL and the company contribute equal amounts, which can be in-kind cost-share.
Helps reduce industry risk in adopting energy efficient, rapid, and flexible manufacturing technologies to lower production cost and create new products.
Program uses a short-term CRADA approval process or User Agreement process to help the program move at the speed of industry.
Participants retain rights for the developed technologies from the project.
More detailed information about the program can be found in our downloadable tool kit, which comprehensively addresses its specific aims and requirements, and provides answers to frequently asked questions.
Eligibility
Eligible entities are limited to industries or research organizations that currently fabricate prototype equipment, manufacture equipment, process materials, produce manufacturing-related software, and/or integrate energy systems in the U.S. for commercial applications, or to industries that will be able to do so as a direct result of these collaborative efforts.
Eligible projects must exhibit the following features:
- Technology Scope - Has a clear application to waterpower technologies, which include:
- Hydropower technologies: support the capture of energy from the flow of moving water across a pressure or elevation difference.
- Pumped storage hydropower technologies: support the storage of energy using water at a pressure or elevation difference.
- Marine energy technologies: support the capture of energy from (1) waves, tides, and currents in oceans, estuaries, and tidal areas, (2) free flowing water in rivers, lakes, streams, and man-made channels, (3) differentials in salinity and pressure gradients, or (4) differentials in water temperature, including ocean thermal energy conversion.
- Cross-cutting technologies: support other fields that can advance hydropower, pumped storage hydropower, and marine energy.
- Outcome – Has a benefit to the broader hydropower or marine energy industries.
- Alignment – Has a clear alignment with the MDF's R&D scope and scientific interest and the H2O’s Advanced Manufacturing and Materials for Hydropower Strategy and/or Multi-Year Program Plan for Marine Energy.
- Non-duplicative – Has a unique scope of work that does not duplicate any currently federally funded projects.
* Entities that are determined by the program to engage in indecent, obscene, or unprofessional behavior will be excluded from consideration.
Objectives
This solicitation is aligned with prioritization goals of the H2O. Projects developed under this program should provide value to the hydropower and marine energy industries at large.
The H2O is specifically interested in projects that:
- Reduce operations and maintenance costs
- Reduce lead time and capital costs
- Improve component or system performance
- Encourage the development of new technology and novel designs
- Encourage industry reshoring and increase the availability of critical equipment
- Increase worker safety and satisfaction
- Validate and certify processes for commercial adopters
- Improve sustainability and reduce environmental risk
- Inform decision making
How It Works
Project Development Timeline: Three to Six Months*
- Fill out the pre-application form provided on this site. The final document should be three pages or less in length. The form includes basic company information, a one-page concept summary, checkboxes for program alignment, and a half-page description of expected research outcomes.
- Send the completed pre-application form to the following email address: WaterPowerTCP@ornl.gov.
- The H2O and ORNL Water Power Program team will evaluate the eligibility and relevance of the idea to the H2O mission.
- If the idea is pre-selected, the company will engage with the MDF to evaluate the technical feasibility.
- If all the requirements are met, ORNL and the participants will co-develop a project plan and submit it to the DOE for final validation.
- A Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) will then be established. Estimated CRADA processing time is approximately two months for U.S. entities.*
* Note: CRADA processing times for non-U.S. companies are about twice as long due to additional DOE reviews.
Project Execution Timeline: Six Months to 18 Months
- At the time of completion, a final CRADA report will be prepared and published.
Funding
- Each project involves a 1:1 cost share of up to $240,000 per party. The participants’ cost share is “in-kind.”
- No funding changes hands between the parties. Applicants’ cost share is generally “in-kind”, and can include labor, materials, travel, equipment, and subcontract costs.
Technology Ownership
During a collaboration, the company will own any intellectual property (IP) developed by tasks undertaken by company employees. Likewise, any IP developed during tasks performed by ORNL employees will be owned by ORNL. If the project is governed by a CRADA agreement, the company will have exclusive licensing rights to ORNL-developed IP after the project concludes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the cost share expectations and what type of expenses can count towards that total?
Cost share is expected to be 1:1. No funding changes hands between the parties. In general, cost share can consist of expenses incurred by the participating entity while performing its portion of the project scope, such as employee labor, materials, subcontracting of services (testing, for example), and equipment loaned to ORNL.
Can the terms of a CRADA or User Agreement be negotiated?
No, both short-form CRADAs and User Agreements are non-negotiable. The terms of both the short-form CRADA and User Agreement are set by the DOE and extended to UT-Battelle (operator of ORNL), for use in the program under UT-Battelle’s prime contract with the DOE (DEAC05-00OR22725).
What is the typical length of a project?
Projects are typically six to 18 months in length. A short-form CRADA has an initial term limit of 24 months, which allows projects to be extended if needed.
How long does it take to get a project approved/started?
- Short-form CRADA (U.S. owned entity): ~three to four months from proposal development to project start
- Short-form CRADA (Foreign owned entity): ~five to six months from proposal development to project start
- User Agreement: ~one to two months from proposal development to project start
