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.
If you have an idea for using advanced manufacturing and materials to lower costs, improve performance, and reduce manufacturing times of hydropower components and systems, join us on the webinar! You could win a part of the $250,000 prize pool.
You will hear from the prize team to gain insight into the application process, ask questions about the prize, and learn tips for a strong submission.
Register here and email us at with questions. We look forward to seeing you there!
