Abstract: The paper describes the Department of Energy’s development and application of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) definitions for marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) devices. Adopted from the definitions established by the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, TRLs provide a measurement of maturity for systems at various stages of development, and establish standards for computational and experimental protocols to foster cogent, costeffective, and safe development programs.
The DOE TRL guidance document tailors the DOD and NASA definitions and stagegates to fit the objectives and strategy of the MHK development program. The TRL definitions and guidelines are presented, with the method and philosophy of how they were derived.
