§2.Water power research and development
This section revises water power research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs (42 U.S.C. 17212 et seq.), including hydropower, marine energy, and National Marine Energy Centers, as follows:
(1) in section 633, (A) modifies purpose (1) to promote water power generation technologies that increase capacity or efficiency, and reduce the cost (from increase capacity and reduce the cost); and (B) adds purpose (5) to advance scalable U.S.-based manufacturing of composite and additive manufactured marine energy components through collaborations with regional universities and industry, including advanced composite research facilities and additive manufacturing facilities;
(2) in section 634 (hydropower research, development, and demonstration), (A) inserts "generation" after "efficiency"; (B) adds "cybersecurity" to physical protections in purpose (2); (C) revises purpose (3) to study, with relevant agencies and Tribal entities, methods to improve the hydropower licensing process, including compiling environmental data, best practices, public comments, and impact assessment methodologies; (D) expands purpose (6) to develop and support studies, methods, and technologies to assess and improve environmental impacts and adds "hydrology" to water quality considerations; (E) specifies advanced components for hydropower and pumped storage applications in purpose (7); (F) adds project management and delivery strategies to systems analysis in purpose (9); (G) adds improving methods for incorporating hydropower and pumped storage in grid modeling systems as purpose (10)(D); and (H) revises purpose (14) to identify mechanisms to test, validate, and improve performance and reliability of hydropower and pumped storage technologies and adds purpose (15) to support workforce development, training, student-led research, and education and outreach for hydropower professionals and researchers;
(3) in section 635(a) (marine energy research, development, and demonstration), among other changes, expands eligible infrastructure to include equipment; specifies microgrids that may include smart energy management systems; requires establishing and supporting a U.S.-based manufacturing and industrial supply chain; adds hydrogen and other transportation fuels production; specifies advanced manufacturing processes; expands end-use applications to include data centers, subsea or offshore power, microgrids, sensors, and communications systems; revises resilience applications for waterside communities and critical infrastructure to include desalination, disaster recovery, aquaculture, marine carbon dioxide removal, isolated community microgrids, and working waterfront demonstration sites; and adds purpose (19) to develop, validate, and demonstrate marine energy systems for extreme tidal temperatures and icing conditions;
(4) in section 636 (National Marine Energy Centers), (A) adds as a selection criterion whether the institution is a regional test site demonstrating unique advantages such as high tidal ranges, strong currents, and cold-water conditions; and (B) requires centers to support workforce development, training, student-led research, and curriculum, education, and outreach for marine energy professionals and researchers; and
(5) in section