University of Washington associate professor Brian Polagye tells an anecdote when asked about the difficulties of extracting energy from the ocean. While at a conference several years ago, he spoke with the chief technology officer of a marine energy startup. The CTO who helped develop tech for outer space for many years told him that the marine sector was “harder than what he’d dealt with outside our atmosphere.”
Polagye thought that the statement may not be right as space is “really, really hard.” He continued, “and the more I’ve come to understand the challenges of working in the ocean, I think he was right. It’s a really challenging problem.”
For a considerable time, the development of marine energy in general, and power from waves in particular, trails behind solar and land-based wind power. But all around the world, power from waves is at the stage of being proven out. The tide, it may seem, is finally turning.
This fall, groundbreaking tests of wave-powered energy systems are being launched by two Pacific Northwest companies. These are Oscilla Power from Seattle and Oregon State University, which will be testing their technologies for the first time. They will be doing the tests at the U.S. Navy Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii.
On the other hand, in July, the U.S. Department of Energy allocated $27 million in funds for the development and research of wave energy. The department announced the news and will be conducting the said research at the new PacWave South testing facility located in Newport in Oregon.
Oscilla Power Hopes to Be In When the Tide Turns
For 13 years, Oscilla Power has been in the works of conducting the first commercial testing of its technology. According to Balakrishnan (Balky) Nair, co-founder and CEO of Oscilla Power, the bottom fell out of the cleantech industry right after they were founded. This is the reason for the length of time for them to get to where they are now.
With around $25 million in investments, the Seattle company manages to keep afloat. In addition, grants from state and federal agencies helped, said Nair.
After fine-tuning its technology, Oscilla Power is now deploying the Triton-C to electrify coastal communities that were once isolated. The Triton-C is a 100-kilowatt system designed for this mission. This technology will generate approximately 30kW of power for at least 25 homes at the Marine Corps base in Oahu, Hawaii. The Triton, Oscilla Power’s larger device with one megawatt-rated system, is intended for installation in large arrays to give utility-level power to the electrical grid. To test the device, Oscilla Power is raising funds specifically for this.
Nair said that wave energy is available 24 hours and would be a welcome complement to other renewables. When the wind stops blowing, and the sun sets, wave energy is the solution.
Why Wave Power is Tricky
Experts tell us that there are many reasons why wave energy is tricky. One reason is that wave energy ripples in all directions, making its efficient capture difficult. What Oscilla Power does is to let a device float on the surface of the ocean and harness the power by moving it from front to back, side to side, and up and down.
There is also economics to think about when harnessing wave energy. Oscilla Power may price their devices at $2 to $2.5 million per MW to install. But many of these hurdles are now lessening. Innovation is providing the hope needed to connect marine power to land-based users. The potential is enormous, and Nair is hopeful that this will begin to translate into venture capital.
“It’s a truly massive opportunity,” Nair commented.
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