Environment

Wave Energy Device Deployed Off Oregon Coast

by apple_lipsis | September 18, 2007 at 11:18 am

1067 views | 17 Recommendations | 5 comments

The worlds first commercial scale wave energy converter has been deployed off the coast of Oregon. Wave power is a renewable resource that uses energy generated by the ocean's waves. Unlike solar and wind power, wave power is just beginning to be utilized because the technology is currently not cost-effective. There is hope that with more research and improvements this new technology could a major source of energy - especially for coastal cities.

Finavera Renewables CEO Jason Bak said, "The mooring and successful commissioning of the AquaBuOY 2.0 is a momentous achievement for Finavera Renewables and the ocean energy industry as a whole."

"The capture of renewable wave energy will play a significant part in the emerging new energy economy and has the potential to power millions of homes in the United States alone," said Bak.

The company is developing wave energy projects for AquaBuOY use in the United States, Portugal, South Africa and Canada.

A cluster of AquaBuOYs would have a low silhouette in the water the company says. Located several miles offshore, the power plant arrays would be visible to allow for safe navigation yet no more noticeable than a small fleet of fishing boats.

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Kaitlin

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:56 on September 18th, 2007

apple_lipsis,great find! It gives one a bit of hope that alternative energy is starting to become more commonplace. Let's hope the project is successful enough to merit bigger and better usage of this technology going forward!

ryan

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:57 on September 18th, 2007

apple_lipsis, makes so much sense...sounds like a very realistic alternative to solar energy.

ScienceDave

at 16:57 on September 18th, 2007

Very cool. When I read your first sentence, I first thought, "It isn't the first...." For example, Nova Scotia has been using tidal energy for more than 20 years at the Annapolis Basin.

But, after a little investigating I came upon a news release from Finavera, the Vancouver based company (pdf), "The Company currently has wave energy projects totaling more than 250 megawatts (MW) planned or under development on the west coast of North America."

Nova Scotia's is a 20MW system, powering 4500 homes a year, and is Province-run. Semantics I guess.

kaizadbhamgara

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at 17:50 on September 18th, 2007

apple_lipsis,

ok let me start off by thanking u for this amazing article...

the
use of this alternative means of energy could have immense advantages
to cities near the coast line... for example.. my home city, Mumbai (or
Bombay as I still prefer to call it) is the financial capital of India,
and is under constant strain to match it's ever increasing energy
demands... this truly makes us hope for a better tomorow :)

apple_lipsis

at 19:54 on September 18th, 2007

Thanks, everyone.

I guess it is semantics, the key word being "commercial". If this becomes commercially viable everyone will want to develop it.

Also, its not tidal energy, its wave power. This from wikipedia: "Wave power could yield much more energy than tidal power." (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power)