42 U.S.C. § 17212

The Secretary shall carry out a program to conduct research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of water power technologies in support of each of the following purposes: (1) To promote research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of water power generation technologies in order to increase capacity and reduce the cost of those technologies. (2) To promote research and development to improve the environmental impact of water power technologies. (3) To provide grid reliability and resilience, including through technologies that facilitate new market opportunities, such as ancillary services, for water power. (4) To promote the development of water power technologies to improve economic growth and enhance cross-institutional foundational workforce development in the water power sector, including in coastal communities.