Welcome to the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC)

The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) is a partnership between Oregon State University (OSU) and the University of Washington (UW). OSU focuses on wave energy. UW focuses on tidal energy. Both universities collaborate with each other and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on research, education, outreach, and engagement.

NNMREC, established in 2008, is one of three United States Department of Energy National Marine Renewable Energy Centers; the others are the Hawaii National Marine Renewable Energy Center and the Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center.

NNMREC has a full range of capabilities to support wave and tidal energy development for the United States. NNMREC is structured to:

1. Close key gaps in understanding through the support of baseline studies, on-going monitoring, and setting the technical, ecological, and human dimensions standards for wave energy projects;

2. Educate and mentor the next generation of marine energy-related scientists, engineers, and educators in the U.S.

3. Facilitate device commercialization through development of standards for validation and evaluation of devices; 

4. Inform regulatory and policy decisions, and

5. Inform and engage industry, science, and the public. 

NNMREC serves as an integrated, standardized test center for U.S. and international developers of wave and tidal energy. Here device and array optimization can be tested for effective deployment of wave and tidal energy technologies, improved forecasting of the wave energy resource can be made, and studies leading to the increased reliability and survivability of marine energy systems can be realized. 

NNMREC evaluates the potential ecosystem and human dimensions impacts. It focuses on the compatibility of marine energy technologies with ocean and coastal environments and coastal users.