A $7.1 million Department of Energy investment has delivered new marine energy testing infrastructure across three national laboratories, with one asset already operational and a second more than a third through construction.

The Water Power Technologies Office detailed the results on March 1, 2023, as part of its 2021–2022 Accomplishments Report. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Sandia National Laboratories each designed, upgraded, or installed test assets under a project titled "Long-Term, Laboratory-Wide Facilities and Infrastructure Upgrades Strategy for Marine Energy."

Lead recipient locations span Golden, Colorado; Sequim, Washington; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. For R&D managers in the marine energy sector, the upgrades expand the menu of federally funded validation options available before devices reach open water.

What did NREL install?

NREL installed and began operating a new wave tank in 2022. The tank supports early-stage, proof-of-concept testing for wave energy devices.

Combined with NREL's manufacturing capabilities, the asset enables a rapid design-and-test cycle to verify device viability at small scale. Researchers plan a next-step demonstration project: designing, manufacturing, and testing a model wave energy device in the tank.

What is PNNL building?

PNNL is constructing the R/V Resilience, a plug-in hybrid research vessel. Construction stood at 35% complete at the time of the report.

The vessel pairs a diesel engine with a parallel hybrid-electric 374 kW propulsion system. In battery-electric mode, the boat runs nearly silent — a property PNNL says makes it less intrusive for studying fish and other wildlife.

The laboratory positions the vessel to support harvesting renewable power from the ocean and to advance decarbonization of marine transportation over the long term.

How did Sandia approach mooring lines?

Sandia designed a line testing facility intended to validate performance and test long-term durability of power take-off mooring lines, belts, and umbilical cables for marine energy devices.

The design process incorporated input from 15 industry representatives, covering the types of testing needed, required forces, and materials. That feedback shaped the final test stand design.

What should R&D managers weigh?

Several caveats apply when reading the claims. The $7.1 million figure covers the combined lab-call selection for testing infrastructure, not the individual cost of each asset, and DOE did not publish per-facility budgets in this report.

The R/V Resilience remains a construction project, not a delivered capability — its 35% completion leaves commissioning and operational availability dates open. The wave tank, by contrast, is a measured milestone: installed and operating as of 2022, with a demonstration project queued as the next validation step.

The work sits under WPTO's "Reducing Barriers to Testing" portfolio, which signals DOE's intent to shorten the path from device concept to credible test data for developers who otherwise face costly at-sea trials.

For teams planning test campaigns, the immediate practical question is scheduling access to the NREL tank, while tracking Sandia's line-testing facility as it moves from design to commissioned hardware.

The WPTO says it will continue sharing updates on tools, analysis, and emerging marine energy technologies through its Water Column newsletter, and the next accomplishments cycle should show whether the PNNL vessel and the Sandia test stand reach operation on their current trajectories.