AN OCEAN ENERGY LAB

A ‘wetlab’ could put Mass. in the lead in ocean energy race
Scott Kirsner, September 19, 2010 (Boston Globe)

"…[I]f you want to drop a tidal generator into the briny deep, or plunk a prototype wind turbine onto the continental shelf, you will inevitably face a few years of permit wrangling with a half-dozen federal and state agencies. Testing new renewable energy technologies isn’t cheap, fast, or easy.

"John R. Miller…director of the Marine Renewable Energy Center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth…[is] campaigning for the creation of a vast saltwater incubator in the channel between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and [south]…[His] project is being called the National Renewable Energy Innovation Zone…[It is a] Big Wetlab: a place where entrepreneurs and big energy companies can beta test the energy technologies of the future, sooner and with fewer hassles than they’d face anywhere else…"

Maine's head start comes from DeepCwind (click to enlarge)

"…[T]he project recently landed $1.5 million in new federal grants…[T]he Big Wetlab could be among the first test areas in the United States, positioning Massachusetts at the center of the emerging clean-tech economy…The race to establish test beds for ocean-based power generation technology is global. Britain, for instance, recently approved a site in the North Sea with 20 designated “pods’’ where companies can deploy prototype wind turbines…

"In the United States…all of the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states are vying [for ocean energy leadership]…Maine is in the lead now; legislation passed last year mandated the creation of several ocean energy test sites in state waters, and earlier this month the state put out a call for proposals for offshore wind and tidal energy projects that could actually start delivering [soon]…"

The sooner R&D gets started, the sooner it pays off. (click to enlarge)

"For marine energy companies, the appeal of the Big Wetlab is that it would cut down on the amount of time and money they have to spend navigating the permitting process…Connections to the electrical grid may also await companies that come to the Big Wetlab for testing…The project will cost tens of millions of dollars to develop…but companies using the test sites would pay rent, generating some revenue. Key to the project’s success will be getting it up and running quickly, and promoting it widely.

"Miller isn’t yet tossing out figures about the project’s potential economic benefits or the number of jobs it could create, but he…has been talking to Cape Cod Community College and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy about creating training programs…[Inevitably] it will attract opponents [over aesthetics, use conflicts and environmental impacts but]…Miller notes that Nantucket and the Vineyard were at the center of the global energy industry back when whale oil was a valuable commodity. This time around, he’s hoping the islands can play a more environmentally-friendly part."