On behalf of U.S. Department of Energy:
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has opened applications for the third annual Hydropower Collegiate Competition (HCC) and sixth annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC). The two competitions engage and educate students about real-world challenges facing these sectors and the many career opportunities in water power with the goal of encouraging the next generation to join the hydropower and marine energy workforces.
Hydropower Collegiate Competition
During the 2025 HCC, teams will either develop solutions to convert non-powered dams to hydroelectric dams that can produce between 100 kilowatts and 10 megawatts of power or assess closed-loop pumped storage hydropower systems that can provide between 8 and 24 hours of energy storage.
Teams will be required to complete three challenges and may choose to participate in two other optional challenges.
Required Challenges
- The Siting Challenge, where teams perform a site selection process and then develop a feasibility assessment for the selected site.
- The Design Challenge, where teams either create a conceptual design of their selected site or complete a final design for a component or system related to the development of their selected site.
- The Community Connections Challenge, where teams conduct outreach with the hydropower industry and a community of their choosing.
Optional Challenges
- The Build and Test Challenge, where teams build and test a scaled prototype of a component of their hydropower site or system.
- The Cyber in Hydro Challenge, where teams will respond to a case study challenge that involves cybersecurity issues.
Teams competing in all three challenges and who complete all required stages will be eligible for up to $15,000 each in cash awards and will compete for part of the $25,000 grand prize cash pool. Teams competing in the Build and Test Challenge will be eligible for an additional $5,000 cash prize each, and those competing in the Cyber in Hydro Challenge will be eligible for an additional $2,000 prize. The scores that teams receive in the optional challenges will not count toward their overall final score.
Marine Energy Collegiate Competition
The 2025 MECC asks multidisciplinary teams to integrate marine energy with blue economy applications such as ocean-powered autonomous vehicles, aquaculture, and desalination.
Teams will compete in four challenges:
- The Business Plan Challenge,in which teams identify a promising blue economy market and determine the best marine energy device to serve that market’s needs.
- The Technical Design Challenge, in which teams design a marine energy-powered device to serve consumers within the team’s chosen market.
- The Build and Test Challenge, in which teams build and test a scaled prototype of their concept.
- The Community Connections Challenge, in which teams engage with the marine energy industry and a community of their choosing.
Competing teams that submit all required MECC challenge materials will be eligible for up to $20,000 in total cash awards. They will also be eligible to compete for a part of the $20,000 grand prize cash pool.