The Wall Street Journal-20080123-Tide Yet to Turn on Wave Power
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Tide Yet to Turn on Wave Power
The formula for harnessing the ocean's energy to generate power is deceptively simple.
"Big waves," said Myke Clark, a spokesman for Finavera Renewables Inc., which in December received the first federal license to build a wave plant in the U.S. "It's pretty straightforward."
The physics of ocean-generated energy are well-defined: "Wave power" is generated by converting the ocean's up-and-down movement into electricity transmitted to shore on lines connected to the power grid on land. Finavera, based in Vancouver, uses a network of buoys; other companies prefer barges or submerged devices. "Tidal power" exploits the regular change in sea levels to similar effect.
If only bringing the technology to commercial use was that easy. For all its promise, conversion of waves and tides into electricity is a technology still in its infancy. Without a proven record, gaining approval to build is difficult, and proponents have little ammunition when dealing with environmental groups concerned about potential consequences.
Despite claims that enough energy is sitting off the coastline to power millions of homes, plans for wave and tidal power stations are minuscule compared with those for wind and solar plants, and long timelines are the reality.
Proponents of ocean-generated energy say the tide is in their favor. Unlike wind or solar power, ocean power relies on a source that is not only abundant, but consistent. Coastal states are also requiring that more of their power come from renewables, out of concern about the impact of traditional fuel emissions on the environment.
Wave and tidal power have leapt to the front of the pack of experimental renewable-energy sources, thanks to a flurry of permit applications for pilot programs and investment. The technology is even bubbling into the mainstream. In a recent debate, Republican presidential candidate John McCain listed tidal power with better- established renewables such as solar and wind as a solution to the nation's energy needs.
There are no plans to build massive wave plants on the scale of recently completed wind farms, however. The wave plant Finavera is building off the state of Washington's Pacific coast will generate one megawatt of electricity compared with 735 megawatts at the world's largest wind farm, in Texas. Finavera said wave power is unlikely to ever compete with coal on cost but may become as cheap as wind and other renewables within 10 years.
Ocean-generated energy is still treated as an untested technology by government regulators, however, meaning gaining approval to build is a tortuous process.
"When you're talking about the ocean, you're talking about 20 different agencies to give you permits," said Roger Bedard, ocean energy leader at the Electric Power Research Institute, an industry group funded by utilities.
It took one year for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve Finavera's license. This approval is still contingent on the company's successfully working its way through state and local agencies. Finavera hopes to begin generating power in 2010.
Last year, the FERC created a three- to five-year license for wave and tidal plants that can be granted faster than the 30- or 50-year licenses awarded to conventional power plants. But the commission also strengthened reporting requirements and set benchmarks for new applicants, to prevent companies from abusing the system by applying for permits to prevent others from building plants on choice stretches of water, said Celeste Miller, an FERC spokeswoman.
"We've only issued one license," she said. "There is no standard timeframe."
Wave energy projects are moving a little too fast for the Surfrider Foundation.
The San Clemente, Calif., ocean preservation advocacy group fears that plants could reduce wave heights, ruining popular surfing locales. Changes to wave patterns might also lead to unexpected beach erosion, said Rick Wilson, coastal management coordinator for the Surfrider Foundation.
"There seems to be a rush all of the sudden to implement these projects," he said.
The Surfrider Foundation, environmental organizations and advocates for fishermen are among the groups attempting to at least tap the brakes on the series of approvals for new wave and tidal power plants expected this year.
