The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office’s (WPTO) Innovations in Advanced Manufacturing for Hydropower (I AM Hydro) Prize challenged innovators to leverage advancements in manufacturing and materials to lower costs, improve performance, and reduce manufacturing times of hydropower components and systems.
The I AM Hydro Prize inspired innovators to compete for up to $175,000 in cash prizes to help integrate hydropower with the ingenuity of advanced manufacturing. Participants had 120 days to submit their concept, which consisted of a proposed solution, conceptual drawings, comparison to the state of the art, and justification for how the idea could lead to levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) reductions.
IMPORTANT DATES
Prize open: June 30, 2020
Prize closes: October 30, 2020
Application Review: November 2, 2020
Winners Announcement: December 2020
$175,000 IN CASH PRIZES
The competition distributed up to $175,000 in cash prizes to 11 winners.
PRIZE GOALS
The I AM Hydro Prize is designed to:
Catalyze the use of advanced manufacturing to drive down levelized costs of hydropower by seeking solutions that can dramatically lower initial capital costs and/or increase annual energy production
Inform future investments by identifying targeted, high-impact opportunities to apply advances in manufacturing to address hydropower’s critical challenges, which may be used to inform future funding opportunities
Bring new innovators into the hydropower sector and help form new partnerships and collaborations between industry, academia, and government to accelerate innovative advanced manufacturing technologies for hydropower.
For further information, please review the official rules for the application process and instructions for competing.
Guidelines
Who can participate?
Please review the official rules for the application process and instructions for competing.
If you want to receive updates on the prize or have any questions, please subscribe by using the contact feature on the HeroX platform or reach out to us directly at .
We’re also looking for recommendations on how to best structure this contest to attract groundbreaking ideas that will spark tomorrow’s hydropower solutions. If you’re not interested in competing but want to help develop and review submissions, please feel free to contact us.
Interphase Materials, Anti-Fouling Coating for Hydropower Cost Reduction
Fusion-Free Fabrication, Augmented Repair via Additive Manufacturing
Composite Magnet for Hydropower Generators
Ceramic Rust Universal Sealant Technology
Multiscale Systems, Lowering Costs with Mechanical Metamaterials
RCAM Technologies, Retrofitting of Non-Powered Dams Using 3-D Concrete Printing
Mazdak International Inc, Semi-Solid Casting for Hydro-Turbines
Super-frictionless Surfaces Quasi-R®
And congratulations to all of our amazing finalists for their work over the past few months, from the start of this competition through to the end. We appreciate everyone's engagement and wish you all success in moving your concepts forward!
You still have time to enter your idea to lower costs, improve performance, and reduce manufacturing times of hydropower components and systems using advanced manufacturing techniques and materials, but not for much longer.
Be sure to prepare all submission content and hit the submit button before 5pm EDT TODAY, Friday, October 30, 2020. Don't leave your piece of $250,000 on the table!
If you have any questions, reach out to us on the forum, or send us an email at IAMHydro@nrel.gov.
With the deadline extended through October 30, you still have time to enter your idea to lower costs, improve performance, and reduce manufacturing times of hydropower components and systems using advanced manufacturing techniques and materials.
Be sure to prepare all submission content and hit the submit button before 5pm EDT on Friday, October 30, 2020. Don't leave your piece of $250,000 on the table!
If you have any questions, reach out to us on the forum, or send us an email at IAMHydro@nrel.gov.
