Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Bill Introduced in Senate

On March 17th, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich of Alaska introduced the "Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Promotion Act of 2011” (S. 630), which would authorize the Department of Energy (DOE) to expand its research and development on marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy. The bill calls for the creation of three testing facilities to be developed by states, universities, or non-profit entities to test marine hydrokinetic technology, and would establish a Federal Marine-Based Energy Device Verification program to certify the performance of new marine technologies. The bill would also authorize the Federal government to set up an adaptive management program and a fund to help pay for the regulatory permitting and development of new marine technologies.

Oregon at the Epicenter of Wave Energy Research and Development

Oregon is rapidly developing a reputation as a leader in wave energy research and development. Resources in the state include the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Lab on the Oregon State University campus, the Oregon Wave Energy Trust, a state-funded group that's nurturing the wave energy sector and the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, a joint program between OSU and Washington State University, including the Hinsdale lab.

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San Onofre Ocean Energy Project

JD Products is seeking public comments on their proposal to install a renewable ocean energy project off San Onofre State Park. The project would utilize Ocean Wave Electricity Generation (OWEG) units to convert the energy from ocean waves into electrical power. The proposed project area location is approximately 8 square nautical miles and indicated by the box shown in the map.

The Surfrider Foundation is a formal stakeholder in the permitting process representing recreational users, and is compiling comments and questions to forward to JD Products and the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC) by March 21, 2011. If you have input that you would like to contribute to this, please email these to pstauffer@surfrider.org by March 17.

You may also provide comments directly to JD Products and FERC by sending emails by March 21 to: chong.kim@jdproductsllc.com and Kenneth.Hogan@ferc.gov.

There will also be a public meeting on March 31st from 12-4pm at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point (24200 Dana Point Harbor). The meeting will provide additional information the project, as well as opportunities for public input to inform JP Products's development of a Pre-Application Document (PAD).

Finally, for more information on the project, please visit the FERC website and search for docket number P-13679.

Check out a recent article from the Dana Point Times

Another Type of Renewable Ocean Energy

On February 10th, NOAA launched a website containing legal and licensing information for industries interested in developing Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) capability in the United States. The new website contains information on OTEC technology and potential environmental impacts and on NOAA’s licensing authority under the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act of 1980. It also contains information on workshops with federal, state, academic, non-government and private sector interests to explore the technological and environmental issues of commercial-scale OTEC systems.

DOE and DOI Unveil Offshore Wind Energy Strategic Plan

On February 7th, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced a coordinated strategic plan for offshore wind energy production.

The joint plan, A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States, is the first interagency plan on offshore wind energy. The plan focuses on overcoming three key challenges: the relatively high cost of offshore wind energy; technical challenges surrounding installation, operations, and grid interconnection; and the lack of site data and experience with project permitting processes.

In support of this Strategic Work Plan, Secretary Chu announced three solicitations, representing up to $50.5 million over 5 years, to develop breakthrough offshore wind energy technology and to reduce specific market barriers to its deployment.

Secretary Salazar also identified four Wind Energy Areas offshore the mid-Atlantic. The areas, on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Delaware (122 square nautical miles), Maryland (207), New Jersey (417), and Virginia (165), will receive early environmental reviews that will help to lessen the time required for review, leasing and approval of offshore wind turbine facilities.

For more information, including links to the complete National Offshore Wind Strategy and fact sheet, see the DOE/DOI press release.

Tidal Energy Project Moves Forward in New York

Verdant Power has filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to install up to 30 tidal power turbines in the East Channel of New York's East River for a pilot project. Company officials say the turbines would transmit energy onto the national grid. Verdant hopes to begin installing the turbines by this fall.

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Assessing the Environmental Effects of Tidal Turbines

A demonstration project planned for Puget Sound will be the first tidal energy project on the west coast of the United States, and the first array of large-scale turbines to feed power from ocean tides into an electrical grid.

University of Washington researchers are devising ways to site the tidal turbines and measure their environmental effects. Brian Polagye, UW research assistant professor of mechanical engineering, will present recent findings this week in an invited talk at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting in San Francisco.

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Largest U.S. Wind Turbine Project Proposed Off Rhode Island Coast

Deepwater Wind has submitted an application to the Department of the Interior for a 200-turbine, 1,000-megawatt offshore wind energy project with a goal of starting construction in 2014. The project is estimated to cost between $4 and $5 billion and would include an undersea transmission network to send power to Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.



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Tidal Energy in WA, ME, AK

For eons, powerful tides have raged through Puget Sound, ripping along at 11 feet per second at their peak, predictable as the phases of the moon. Three years from now, a local utility hopes to begin converting a portion of that raw energy to electricity, part of a growing effort to harness the tides to power homes and businesses miles from the smell of salt air.

The Snohomish County Public Utility District's pilot project is small - two turbines with 500 kilowatts of total capacity and an average output of 50 kilowatts - hardly a panacea for all that ails the United States' energy portfolio. But tidal power is garnering increasing attention as a niche supplier of renewable alternative energy in Washington, Maine and Alaska. The tides, some say, have the potential to light five percent of the nation's homes - nearly nine gigawatts of generating power.

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Atlantic Wind Connection

On October 11th, Google signed an agreement to invest in the development of a backbone transmission project off the Mid-Atlantic coast that offers a solid financial return while helping to accelerate offshore wind development—so it’s both good business and good for the environment. The new project can enable the creation of thousands of jobs, improve consumer access to clean energy sources and increase the reliability of the Mid-Atlantic region's existing power grid.

When built out, the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone will stretch 350 miles off the coast from New Jersey to Virginia and will be able to connect 6,000MW of offshore wind turbines. That’s equivalent to 60% of the wind energy that was installed in the entire country last year and enough to serve approximately 1.9 million households.Atlantic Wind Connection.

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PG&E Suspends Humboldt WaveConnect Project

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced it will be suspending permitting efforts on the Humboldt WaveConnect Project. The decision was made after several major challenges made the project unviable at its proposed configuration and location. In 2007, PG&E began examining the feasibility of using the power of ocean waves to create clean, renewable electricity to meet the state’s goals for energy. The Humboldt site was selected for a pilot project that would allow for the testing of several types of hydrokinetic technologies. Over time, however, significant permitting challenges emerged and costs of the project were higher than projected. Members of the Humboldt Chapter of Surfrider Foundation participated extensively in the stakeholder working group process to identify and minimize potential impacts to existing uses and the natural environment. The Chapter had supported the draft license application submitted by PG&E to the Federal Energy & Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Tidal Energy Advances in New York

A couple of months ago we reported on a tidal energy project in Maine.


MSNBC now has a video feature on Verdant Power's tidal energy project in New York's East River.


Watch the video report.

Renewable Ocean Energy & the Marine Environment Conference

On November 3-5, the Renewable Ocean Energy & the Marine Environment Conference will be held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. This conference will bring together researchers, developers, federal and state agencies, industry, and scientists to explore cutting-edge science and technology to identify gaps in the current knowledge of the environmental impacts of renewable ocean energy.

Cape Wind Project Moves Forward

The Department of Interior and Cape Wind Associates have signed the nation’s first lease for commercial wind energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The area offered in the lease is comprised of 25 square miles in Nantucket Sound offshore Massachusetts. The 130 planned wind turbines are expected to produce enough energy to power more than 200,000 homes in Massachusetts. The site of the project on Horseshoe Shoals lies outside shipping channels, ferry routes and flight paths but is adjacent to power-consuming coastal communities. The Cape Wind energy project would be the first wind farm in U.S. waters, potentially generating enough power to meet 75 percent of the electricity demand for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island combined. The 28-year lease for the area off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. will cost the company $88,278 in annual rent prior to production, and a 2 to 7 percent operating fee during production. “This is the beginning of a new era for our Nation in offshore energy production,” Secretary Salazar said in a speech to the American Wind Energy Association in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he signed the lease. “Responsibly developing this clean, renewable, domestic resource will stimulate investment in cutting-edge technology, create good, solid jobs for American workers, and promote our nation’s competitiveness, security, and prosperity.”

Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Act Introduced in House

On September 29th, Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced the “Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Promotion Act” (H.R. 6344), which would establish a series of competitive demonstration grants to support the research, demonstration, and commercial application of marine hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies, and identify ways to address potential environmental impacts. The bill would also expand an existing Department of Energy program to create test facilities that will demonstrate a variety of technologies at a range of scales to evaluate the viability of each technology.

Wave-energy project advances in Hawaii

A buoy off the Windward Oahu coast that generates electricity using sea motion has been connected to the island's electrical grid, according to the company overseeing the project. New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies Inc. said it was the first-ever grid connection of a wave energy device in the United States. The buoy was deployed in December in about 100 feet of water about three-quarters of a mile off of Marine Corps Base Hawaii in conjunction with the Navy.


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FERC cancels permits in San Luis Obispo & Mendocino

On September 23, the Federal Energy & Regulatory Commission (FERC) canceled preliminary permits for wave energy projects off San Luis Obispo, CA and Mendocino, CA. Back in May of 2009, FERC had issued the permits to Green Wave Energy Solutions to study the feasibility of wave energy development in each of these areas. However, the applicant had failed to comply with several timeline requirements, including the filing of progress reports and preliminary application documents (PAD). In addition, stakeholder groups had expressed concern about the lack of community outreach by Green Wave during project planning. Among these were the San Luis Bay Chapter and Mendocino Chapter of Surfrider Foundation, both of which filed motions to intervene at the outset of the permitting process. For more information, please visit www.ferc.gov and search under ‘Hydropower’ for P-13053 and P-13053.

Largest Offshore Wind Farm Opens Off English Coast

Swedish energy giant Vattenfall said the 100 turbines are expected to generate enough electricity to power 200,000 homes.

The 380ft (115m) tall turbines are spread over an area of more than 35 sq km and are visible from the shore on a clear day.

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West Coast Wave Energy Framework Open for Public Comment

Pacific Energy Ventures, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is collaborating with stakeholders to develop a Planning & Assessment Framework that outlines environmental information relevant to developing and permitting wave energy projects offshore California, Oregon, and Washington. The project is now focused on collecting stakeholder input on options to address key data gaps. A survey designed to present the draft options and collect stakeholder input is available now through October 7, 2010. Once stakeholder input is collected, the project team will summarize the feedback in a final report to be shared with the DOE and all interested parties.

Click on this link to participate in the survey.

Tidal Energy Plant Officially Unveiled in Maine

Ocean Renewable Power Company recently installed a small tidal power generator in Cobscook Bay, Maine, which they say is the largest tidal power plant ever installed in U.S. waters. A generator uses the power from turbines hanging from a barge to charge large battery packs, which are ferried daily by skiff to the Coast Guard station in Eastport. The battery packs provide almost 20 kilowatt-hours of power daily, about half of the energy needs of the 41-foot search and rescue boat docked there.

Admittedly, it is a small amount of power; it would take 25 such turbines to equal the rated capacity of just one of the wind turbines recently installed on the nearby island of Vinalhaven. The project cost $4 million, including more than a million dollars of federal and state support. Ocean Renewable Power Company is using the data it is gathering to fine-tune a larger installation in Cobscook Bay, planned for 2011. That system, according to the company, should generate enough electricity to power 50 or 60 homes.

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