Oregon To Expand Wave Energy Research

Oregon Wave Energy Testing Project Looks To Feds For Approval

Jes Burns, April 25, 2018 (Jefferson Public Radio)

“…An Oregon State University project to set up a wave energy test site is now applying for the federal permits needed to move ahead…Oregon has some of the best potential in the world to generate energy from the motion of the waves. But [building and testing] wave energy technology is an expensive proposition…[that] takes many years and even more federal and state permits… [The estimated cost for this project is $50 million, $35 million of which would come from the U.S. Department of Energy. The permitting process will take more than a year to complete. That is a big part of why] wave energy technology is about 15 years behind wind…[T]he university wants to help the fledgling technology get into the water faster…[by setting up] a 2-square-mile, grid-connected test plot off the central Oregon coast. Companies would pay to test up to 20 devices at a time…[Currently, only small-scale, grid-connected, wave energy test facilities in Hawai’i and Scotland are in operation and] Oregon State University also operates a non-grid-connected test site further north along the coast…[This] project has the potential to be by far the largest and most versatile test facility in the world…” click here for more

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