Oregon Wave Energy Trust

On Wave Power, Oregon Looks To Europe For Help

View Original Source at Earthtechling.com

April 24th, 2012

By Pete Danko

The Pacific Northwest-based group aiming to build the first grid-connected wave power test center in the United States is turning to Europe—where there’s a lot of experience on this sort of thing—for assistance.

The Oregon Wave Energy Trust (OWET) said today that it has selected the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) to provide a development plan for the envisioned Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC).
pacific marine testing center

The EMEC, in Orkney, Scotland, is the granddaddy of marine-power test centers. It has 14 full-scale grid-connected test berths and claims to be “home to some of the most innovative marine energy devices currently in development, with more full-scale devices having been tested at EMEC than at any other single site in the world.” Just last month Vattenfall snared the last available spot at the test center to test a Pelamis wave energy converter.

So clearly the Oregonians have a long way to go to catch up to the Europeans in developing the PMEC, which is being undertaken with the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC), a collaboration of Oregon State University and the University of Washington and one of only three federally sponsored ocean energy centers.

NNMREC is well along in a separate project to build a commercially available ocean test berth for marine power technologies off Yaquina Head, just north of Newport, Ore.; it’s expected to begin putting devices through their paces there this summer. “With this facility, NNMREC will have a full suite of testing capabilities to support the advancement of small-scale and full-scale devices supported by both land based and in-ocean testing facilities,” OWET said.

All of which is tremendous, OWET said—but the NNMREC facility won’t be grid connected, and if marine power is ever going to become a reality on the West Coast, it needs the grid connection. OWET says its goal is to power two Oregon communities with ocean energy by 2025.

As for the immediate future, OWET and NNMREC said project details and a timeline will be available when the contract with the EMEC is finalized.

Reaching Out

Did You Know?

Oregon is a leader in wave energy.

Oregon focuses on a collaborative model for getting wave energy projects in the water.

That Oregon’s Coastline is among a few places in the world that has the key elements to tap into wave energy?

That Oregon can enjoy an abundance of energy generated by ocean waves?

That our state contains internationally- recognized experts who are leading efforts to responsibly develop wave energy?

That Oregon has capacity to build, maintain and deliver sustainable wave energy power to the grid?

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Why support Oregon Wave Energy Trust?

Wave energy is one key part of the comprehensive alternative energy solution for Oregon. And thanks to a combination of unique characteristics is the only source of energy where Oregon enjoys such a clear competitive advantage. As a result, Oregon’s wave energy industry provides myriad opportunities to deliver significant economic benefits to the state.

Oregon Wave Energy Trust (OWET) works closely with our state- wide stakeholders: fishing and environmental groups, coastal communities and industry, government agencies and other partners in responsibly developing this new industry while establishing Oregon as the North American leader in wave energy. The work that we do is the real benefit we offer our members.

Our Founding Partners

Oregon Wave Energy Trust was funded in part with Oregon State Lottery Funds administered by the Oregon Business Development Department. It is one of six Oregon Innovation Council initiatives supporting innovation and long term economic growth.