SURF-WEC completes first ocean deployment off Makai Research Pier in Hawai'i. Like a surfer, the Small Underwater Research Flap Wave Energy Converter, or SURF-WEC, rides the ocean's waves - but this system converts wave motion into electricity. The SURF-WEC recently made the leap from lab to ocean off Makai Research Pier in O'ahu, Hawai'i. A collaboration between researchers at the Hawai'i Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) in the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) enabled this milestone in marine energy device deployment and testing. "Projects like SURF-WEC work because different teams bring different expertise," said Pat Cross, Program Manager for Marine Energy at HNEI. "NLR led much of the power take-off engineering, while we helped ensure a robust anchoring and deployment approach and supported testing here in Hawai'i. We learn from each other - and that collaboration is what makes projects like this successful." Decades of theoretical and modeling research have advanced the field of marine energy. But open-water deployment and testing of marine energy devices have been limited, leading to gaps in data and knowledge needed for commercialization. The deployment of SURF-WEC can help close these gaps: The device is expected to generate critical data the industry can build on. "The marine energy community is so data-starved," said Bri Friedman, a NLR researcher on the project. "There's just so few deployments that have occurred. And on top of that, a lot of those deployments don't have accessible or shared data." To help fill that void, the researchers combined their expertise in wave modeling, controls, and ocean deployment to do something different: deploy a low-barrier, small-scale wave energy converter and provide open access to its design, data, and lessons learned. A techno-athlete, born to adapt. Born from earlier wave energy modeling work at NLR and an existing research flap developed by HNEI, the SURF-WEC turns wave motion into electricity. A buoyant flap anchored just offshore, roughly the size of a big-screen TV, oscillates back and forth with each passing wave - like a door swinging on its hinges. The movement of the flap from ocean waves drives a hydraulic system, which pumps fluid through a sealed system, building pressure over time. When a set pressure is reached, it is used to spin a motor connected to a generator, which produces electricity. What makes SURF-WEC unique is its ability to adapt. Researchers can remotely adjust how the system responds to waves, testing both passive and active modes to better understand how to capture energy more efficiently. Out of the lab, into the ocean. With NLR and UH Mānoa researchers coordinating between the Makai Pier, the UH Mānoa lab, and the water, the team installed the rest of the system just offshore, anchoring it to the seabed and connecting it back to the pier. "Just a small crew and a forklift - that's all it took to get everything in the water," said Kimball Millikan, a marine energy research engineer in HNEI who led the deployment from land to sea. Since the system was deployed months ago, insights are beginning to emerge. The team plans to keep SURF-WEC in the water for up to a year - collecting data to support future marine energy research and technology development. Anyone can follow along in real time through the system's live data feed. As SURF-WEC continues operating offshore, researchers at NLR are gathering the information needed to publish a final report, which will be publicly available. This work was funded by the Department of Energy's Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office.

METI, EMA, & US Department of Energy call for greater cooperation for energy development. The full report will be released in early 2027. October 29, 2026, 06:30 PM. Image via Canva Singapore's Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Energy Market Authority of Singapore (EMA), and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) released the preliminary findings of the second phase of the joint Feasibility Study on Regional Energy Connectivity in Southeast Asia on Oct. 28. Key findings presented during SIEW. The Joint Feasibility Study was launched in April 2023, with the second phase being launched in October 2026. The study's key findings was presented on Oct. 28 by the National Laboratory of the Rockies and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, during the 19th Singapore International Energy Week. The final report will be completed by early 2027. The first phase of the study examined Southeast Asia's grid infrastructure, including subsea interconnections, and the socioeconomic benefits of regional energy interconnectivity. For the second phase, Singapore and the U.S. brought together policymakers, industry experts, and researchers from the region to exchange perspectives and best practices in cross-border electricity trading and regional grid development. Stronger regional governance and cooperation. Preliminary findings of this study highlight the need for stronger regional governance and cooperation. It also recommended greater alignment of legal and regulatory frameworks across Asean to support subsea interconnection development. The study also identifies approaches to financing meant to mobilise investment in subsea interconnection projects, including approaches to lessen project risks, as well as regional cost allocation methods to support wider investments as part of the wider Asean Power Grid. The findings will help provide further practical recommendations to support the development of the Asean power grid, including regional initiatives such as the Asean submarine power cable development framework. There is also hope that it will strengthen the Asean-US energy cooperation under the Asean Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation of 2026 to 2030. The METI press statement said that Singapore and the U.S. looked forward to deepening cooperation on regional interconnectivity, energy security, and energy technologies, especially as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Asean relationship in 2027.

Accelerating battery innovation through the new national BattMan manufacturing consortium. The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory is joining DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) in a new national consortium aimed at accelerating the transition of energy storage innovations from discovery to domestic manufacturing. Called the Battery Manufacturing (BattMan) Accelerator, the consortium will tackle key challenges in scaling emerging battery technologies, with a focus on lowering manufacturing costs, shortening development timelines and strengthening U.S. leadership in advanced energy storage. "Breakthroughs in battery science must be matched by our ability to manufacture them at scale. BattMan brings together the tools, data and partnerships needed to design manufacturable solutions from the start and accelerate their transition into industry," said Jie Xiao, Battelle Fellow at PNNL with a joint appointment as Boeing Martin professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. Pittcon Keynote speaker highlights ebook. Check out the top interviews from Pittcon's Keynote Speakers over the years. The four laboratories contribute complementary strengths to bridge gaps between lab discovery and commercial production. PNNL will apply manufacturing science to show that new materials and processes can scale. Argonne will expand this work by validating feasibility and increasing production using its pilot lines. Both labs will provide materials - such as powders and electrodes - to ORNL for smart coating process development. NLR will lead the integration of advanced characterization, physics-guided quality control and digital materials design for rapid feedback to project partners. "Argonne brings materials synthesis and process scale-up capabilities that can shorten the time required for new technologies to reach commercialization," said Jianlin Li, director of the Energy Storage and Conversion department at Argonne, who serves as the lab's lead on the project. "Demonstrating technical and economic feasibility at larger production volumes is essential for validating new technologies efficiently." BattMan will also strengthen critical mineral supply chains by advancing battery materials made from more abundant domestic elements. In addition to Argonne, PNNL, ORNL and NLR, the BattMan Accelerator includes the University of Washington, Binghamton University, University of Alabama, Arizona State University and University of Michigan-Dearborn as founding partners. The accelerator is actively establishing collaborations with companies across the battery and materials manufacturing sector. The laboratories will work closely with these university partners and industry to test and validate manufacturing processes at increasing scales and toward commercially viable production. "To advance the next generation of battery technologies, we must reduce the risks associated with scaling innovations from laboratory discovery to commercial production," said Claus Daniel, associate laboratory director for Argonne's Advanced Energy Technologies directorate. "Processes that work at small scale can behave very differently at larger volumes. Addressing those uncertainties earlier with better science, reliable data and rigorous validation gives companies greater confidence to invest." SI-Driven manufacturing. Super intelligence (SI) is expected to play a central role in the initiative. "SI-driven methods that use processing and manufacturing data have the potential to speed up discovery of new materials, improve efficiency of laboratory processes and support predictive, cost-effective design," Xiao said. "Beyond enabling high throughput, SI has the potential to optimize workflows to reduce cost and accelerate technology maturation," Li said. "The Argonne team will begin by applying SI to individual processes and later integrate SI models across full production line." As part of BattMan, Argonne will generate synthesis and scale-up data, train machine learning models and identify optimal processing conditions through active learning. Scientific goals. In the near term, BattMan will deploy high-throughput experimentation, automated synthesis and characterization, and digital manufacturing tools to improve data quality, reproducibility and process consistency across partner institutions. Longer term, the consortium aims to develop self-optimizing manufacturing systems using real-time data, digital twins and tight closed-loop control. BattMan will build on the autonomous laboratory concepts by advancing autonomous pilot lines designed to reduce scale-up time and costs, accelerate commercialization and reinforce domestic supply chains. BattMan is currently forming industry partnerships in battery and battery-materials manufacturing.