Department of Energy has awarded $25 million to eight groups for the testing of wave energy technologies. It would be at Oregon State University’s PacWave South facility off the central Oregon coast.
Department of Energy and Construction of Facility
In June 2021, construction did begin. It was on the roughly $80 million facility. It would be located about seven miles offshore. That is when it is completing, PacWave South is going to be the first commercial-scale project. It is a grid-connected wave energy test site in the U.S. Thus, it is expecting to be operational in 2023. Also, the grid-connecting testing is going to be anticipating to begin the following year.
New Development
“An exciting new development is represented by DOE’s announcement. It is in the pursuit of producing renewable energy from the ocean waves,” said Oregon State’s Burke Hales. He is PacWave’s chief scientist and a professor in the OSU College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.
“Moreover, there is a commitment to in-water testing at the PacWave site. Therefore, It is the bridge from conceptual or scaled-down designs to operational power production in the fully energetic open ocean. In fact, it does also shows the agency’s long-term commitment to the completion and operation of the PacWave test facility.”
There are funded projects are focusing on wave energy converter designs. They are for use in geographically remote areas or on small grids. The converter designs can be either connecting to or disconnecting from the grid. Thus, the research and development are relating to environmental monitoring, instrumentation systems. These operators use to control wave energy converters and other technologies.
Among the funding, recipients are Portland State University with a $4.5 million award.
“To combat the climate crisis is wave energy. It is an essential piece of the strategy. Moreover, I am gratified that Oregon State University, Portland State University, and our state are going to play. In fact, it would be a central role in developing this energy source. It would be to its full potential,” said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. “Therefore, I look forward very much to what the innovative minds at both OSU and PSU are developing. In turn, this is in regard to these projects that are putting our country on the path to a clean energy future.”