§17215 National Marine Energy Centers

Summary

The Secretary must give grants, each up to $10,000,000 per year, to colleges or college groups to keep running and growing the National Marine Energy Centers that existed on January 1, 2020, and to start new Centers. When picking schools for new Centers, the Secretary must look at whether the school already does marine energy research, has technical skills for that research, and can access marine resources. The Centers must work together, with the Department and National Labs, to push marine energy research and help move technologies toward commercial use. They must support in-water testing and demonstrations, including testing systems of different sizes and readiness, multiple technologies at once, device arrays, and connections to electrical grids or microgrids. They must also collect and share best practices and, when possible, coordinate with the Secretary of Commerce and other federal agencies. The Secretary may stop funding a Center if it is under‑performing, as allowed by law.