Compared to the wind and solar energy sectors, the marine renewable energy field is only in its infancy, and researchers and developers have their work cut out for them. Fortunately, a federally funded program exists to help innovators navigate the complex path of marine energy technology development from design conception to commercialization.
The Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy program, better known as TEAMER, is a funding platform that plans to distribute $25 million over the course of several application cycles to support marine energy testing and development. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office and directed by the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust, TEAMER is comprised of over 80 sites across the U.S. that offer one or more areas of expertise, including Numerical Modeling & Analysis; Laboratory & Bench Testing; Tank/ Tunnel/Flume/Basin Testing; and Open Water Support. TEAMER pairs marine energy technology developers with expert researchers and these facilities to advance the industry, accelerate technologies towards commercialization, and get devices in the water for renewable energy production.
Excitingly, the Coastal Studies Institute is now an approved TEAMER facility! As the leader of the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program since 2012 and a founding member of the Atlantic Marine Energy Center (AMEC), which was established in 2021, CSI is well-positioned to hold such a designation. CSI and its 10-meter wave tank are listed on the TEAMER website as offering “Non-Open Water, Tunnel, Flume, Tank & Basin” support.
“The CSI marine energy team is thrilled to integrate our wave tank into the TEAMER network. This partnership opens new doors for researchers and developers—both in North Carolina and across the nation—to leverage our facilities for marine energy testing. Our tank is specifically optimized for testing scaled devices designed to power the blue economy,” says NCROEP Director George Bonner.
Through annual open funding calls, TEAMER support for marine energy testing and development projects is available to applicants worldwide, so long as they partner with one of the network facilities. A successful Request for Technical Support, or RFT, is completed through a five-step process as follows:
- Pre-consult: An applicant chooses a partner facility within the TEAMER network and discusses their needs.
- Apply: If the applicant and facility feel they are a good match, together they submit an online RFT application.
- Plan: The approved applicant and facility prepare a detailed plan.
- Test: The partner facility provides technical support within nine months of test plan approval.
- Report: After testing and technical support are complete, the applicant submits a report, which will be made publicly available.
To further accelerate the development of marine energy technologies and foster a heightened sense of collaboration, TEAMER-affiliated projects have publicly published reports as highlighted by step 5. The availability of findings and results from each TEAMER project can help reduce the barriers others may experience when entering and participating in the marine energy sector. With information sharing as a crucial characteristic of the TEAMER network, the wide availability of marine energy technologies in the future may come quicker.
In addition to publishing the reports, TEAMER is dedicated to increasing awareness of marine energy technologies and technical support by hosting webinars and workshops throughout the year. In fact, Trip Taylor, a research scientist and member of the Oceanography and Marine Hydrokinetic Energy Lab at CSI, participated in the 2024 WEC Modeling and Controls Workshop, which was hosted by TEAMER. At the workshop, Taylor received a comprehensive technical overview of the workflow for wave energy converter (WEC) modeling and analysis, as well as hands-on training with various virtual toolkits to assist with WEC modeling and development. Moreover, the networking opportunities with folks from the Hinsdale Wave Research Lab at Oregon State University and the WaveBot group at Sandia National Laboratory provided him with valuable insight for experimental testing setups.
The preceding story first appeared in the Winter 2026 edition of CoastLines, published in January.
Based at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP) advances inter-disciplinary marine energy solutions across UNC System partner colleges of engineering at NC State University, UNC Charlotte, and NC A&T University. Click on the links below for more information.
ECU's Integrated Coastal Programs (ECU ICP) is a leader in coastal and marine research, education, and engagement. ECU ICP includes the Coastal Studies Institute, ECU's Department of Coastal Studies, and ECU Diving and Water Safety.
The ECU Outer Banks campus is home to the Coastal Studies Institute.
