Hydropower currently accounts for 28.7% of total U.S. renewable electricity generation and about 6.2% of total U.S. electricity generation. It can supply electricity immediately or store it to meet real-time demand. By enhancing these abilities, this investment helps strengthen hydropower’s ability to support an electric grid with an increasing amount of variable renewable energy resources as the United States works to meet its clean energy goals.

The opportunity funded projects in three topic areas:

1. Up to $4 million for projects that demonstrate hydropower hybrid configurations, such as a hydropower facility paired with another type of generation or with an energy storage resource.
2. Up to $4 million for projects that advance technology innovations to improve the flexible capabilities of the U.S. hydropower fleet.
3. Up to $1.5 million for projects that quantify the flexible capabilities of hydropower and advance operational strategies to increase such flexibility to better serve an evolving electric grid.