OCEAN ENERGY’S SECOND WAVE

Innovators Develop Second Wave of Ocean-Based Energy
Trevor Curwin, April 18, 2010 (CNBC)

"…UK-based Aquamarine Power believes it has conquered the cruel environment of the world’s oceans to bring almost limitless clean energy ashore…In a tough operating environment that has crushed or drowned many competitors, [Aquamarine Power’s] Oyster is currently generating energy off the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland by taking the radical approach of leaving the electricity-producing components of its power plant on land…

"The Oyster’s core is a buoyant, hinged flap that sways backwards and forwards in the waves near shore. This motion drives two hydraulic pistons which push high pressure water onshore to drive a conventional hydroelectric turbine…That keeps the production end of the equipment—the generator, converters, transformers and circuit breakers – high and dry onshore for easy maintenance and operation…"

DOE/EPRI estimate of U.S. wave energy potential. (click to enlarge)

"…[T]he promise of harvesting ocean energy from waves, tides and currents is not new…For several decades, many test projects have been tried but few achieved scalability, with most concepts succumbing to the operating environment and to high costs of production…Peter Asmus, an analyst with cleantech research firm Pike Research, says the industry is only now getting starting to build a new generation of technologies, like the Oyster…

"The resource is clearly abundant. The Electric Power Research Institute, an independent energy research organization, estimates that the U.S. could produce 10 gigawatts of wave power and 3 gigawatts of tidal power within 10 years…That would be enough to produce six percent of U.S. electrical demand…[Aquamarine Power] calculates the Oyster could generate in excess of 50 gigawatts of power worldwide…"

Rendering of the Green Ocean Energy hybrid wind energy/wave energy device. (click to enlarge)

"But even if the technology proves itself, large-scale ocean energy projects face the same hurdles that such projects face on land—a spotty transmission grid and a financing crunch still thwarting many big infrastructure projects…One savior may be a competing renewable energy technology…Offshore wind projects mount proven and scalable wind turbine technology on platforms at sea. These could work in conjunction with ocean energy systems like Aquamarine’s Oyster, providing crucial infrastructure to make wave and tidal power more viable…

"Michael Kanellos, researcher and editor-in-chief with research firm Greentech Media/GTM Research, says that even with those benefits it will still be tough to attract investment for ocean power…He [says] this will likely be a niche technology for years to come, with projects deployed in very specific locales to generate power to sell into the wider power grid, or to provide local energy for more remote communities less connected to the grid…[But] opportunity is much closer today than it has been…"