NREL to fire starting gun for MECC 2022 in early April

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced it will start accepting applications for the 2022 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) on 5 April 2021.

Managed by NREL on behalf of U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), the competition encourages undergraduate and graduate students to unlock the power of the ocean, rivers, and tides to develop, design, and test the technologies that build resilient coastal communities and provide power at sea.

“With the launch of the 2022 MECC, we’re putting out a call to action for the best and brightest across scientific and technical disciplines to develop tomorrow’s breakthrough marine energy-powered concepts”, said Arielle Cardinal, the MECC operations manager at NREL.

Participating teams will be tasked with designing a device that optimizes technology, reduces costs, and explores new opportunities for marine energy.

Possible submissions range from proposals for marine-powered applications for desalination, to offshore marine aquaculture to ocean observation, and other markets.

Specifically, the 2022 teams will be tasked with:

• Developing a market-research-supported business plan and conceptual-level technical design of a system that could be commercialized to address power needs for a chosen sector of the blue economy,
• Pitching their plan to a panel of judges and hypothetical investors,
• Designing, building, and testing a device to achieve energy production (optional),
• Engaging with their community through outreach and educational activities.

Teams will deliver written submissions, market assessment and business pitches, and detailed technology designs for their chosen markets.

“The opportunities the MECC affords in the way of information sharing, career development, and networking is unparalleled in the marine energy industry”, concluded Cardinal.

To remind, NREL selected 17 teams to participate in 2021 MECC back in October 2021.

The selected teams will participate in the competition in spring 2021. They will be asked to develop a market-research-supported business plan and conceptual-level technical design of a system that could be commercialized to address power needs for a chosen sector of the blue economy, NREL said earlier.