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West Coast Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Licensed Hydroelectric Projects: Marine Hydrokinetic Energy

Pacific Ocean; Coos County, Oregon.

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Coos Bay OPT Wave Park Project

Pacific Ocean; Coos County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The proposed 200-buoy project is a commercial-scale wave energy park in the nearshore ocean off Coos Bay, Oregon. The preliminary proposal for the project was similar to the Reedsport Wave Park, the first FERC-licensed wave energy project off the Oregon coast.

Licensee: Oregon Wave Energy Partners I, LLC

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

The proposed project is still in the preliminary planning phase, therefore, no project-specific list of potentially affected species is available. The following species may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project:

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC issued a preliminary permit in April 2010. The licensee submitted surrender of preliminary permit on February 1, 2013. Surrender action was completed by FERC on June 6, 2013.

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Douglas County Wave & Tidal Energy Project

Pacific Ocean; Douglas County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The Douglas County Wave and Tidal Energy Power Project is proposed as a 1-3 megawatt facility situated on, immediately adjacent or in the near vicinity of the existing North and South jetties located at the mouth of the Umpqua River. Douglas County has not selected its preferred site and is evaluating four potential alternative sites.

Licensee: Douglas County, Oregon

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

The proposed project is still in the preliminary planning phase, therefore, no project-specific list of potentially affected species is available. The following species may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project:

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC issued a preliminary permit in June 2010. The licensee submitted permit withdrawal on May 15, 2013. FERC subsequently vacated the preliminary permit on March 26, 2014.

Resources

PacWave at Oregon State University

Pacific Ocean; Lincoln County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

PacWave (formerly known as the Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site) is an Energy Department-funded, grid-connected, full-scale test facility for wave energy conversion technologies—the first of its kind in the United States. The site is currently being developed off the coast of Newport, Oregon, by faculty and staff in the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences(CEOAS) at Oregon State University (OSU).

The Energy Department announced the selection of the OSU-led team to develop the facility in December 2016 and initial operation is expected to begin between 2021–2022. The Energy Department is providing an award of up to $40 million, subject to appropriations, to design, permit, and construct an open-water, grid-connected national wave energy testing facility.

The facility will be constructed off Newport, Oregon, by the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University and will support innovations in wave energy technologies capable of harnessing the significant wave energy resources along United States coastlines.

The test facility will be able to accommodate up to twenty wave energy converters (WEC)—devices that convert wave energy into electricity—in four separate test berths simultaneously. Each berth will have a dedicated transmission cable and the site will be generally pre-permitted for a variety of WEC technologies. WECs are one range of devices in the Energy Department’s research and development portfolio that generate energy from the ocean. Others include tidal and current energy converters as well as ocean thermal energy conversion technologies. These devices are part of a collective suite of marine renewable energy technologies that convert the energy of waves, tides, and river and ocean currents into electricity.

The test site will provide a grid-connected platform for advanced testing of utility-scale wave energy converters in a high-energy, open-coast environment. Transitioning wave energy technologies to full-scale commercialization requires both in-water tests of performance and efficiency and extended demonstrations of reliability, operations, and maintenance in an open-ocean, grid-connected operational site.

Improved environmental monitoring systems coupled with a 25-year Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) operating license will help expedite the testing process at reduced costs for technology developers. The ability to more quickly and cost-effectively test devices and demonstrate iterative design improvements will allow technology developers to more rapidly improve performance, drive down costs, and attract investment and financing for future projects.

Marine renewable energy technologies are still at relatively early stages of development. Fundamental scientific and engineering challenges of generating power from dynamic, low-velocity and high-density waves and currents while surviving in corrosive ocean environments present significant barriers to advancing the marine energy industry. The PacWave site will enable technology developers to prove device performance in dynamic wave environments for long periods of time-thereby, demonstrating technical viability, determining methods for cost reduction, and advancing technologies toward cost-effective power delivery and commercial readiness.

Licensee: Oregon State University

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

The proposed project is still in the preliminary planning phase, therefore, no project-specific list of potentially affected species is available. The following species may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project:

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC issued Draft License Application for public comment on April 25, 2018. NOAA Fisheries submitted Preliminary License terms and conditions on July 18, 2018. Final License Application was filed with FERC on May 30. 2019.

Resources

Reedsport OPT Wave Park Expansion Project

Pacific Ocean; Douglas County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

The proposed 100-buoy project is the third phase of a commercial-scale wave energy park in the nearshore ocean off Reedsport, Oregon. The project is an expansion of the 10-buoy Reedsport Wave Park (phase II), the first FERC-licensed wave energy project off the Oregon coast.

Licensee: Reedsport OPT Wave Park, LLC

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

The proposed project is still in the preliminary planning phase, however, as the proposed project is an expansion of the 10-buoy Reedsport Wave Park (Phase II) the following species may occur in the vicinity of the proposed project:

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC issued a preliminary permit in March 2011. The licensee is continuing to develop the project as of September 2012.

Resources

Reedsport OPT Wave Park Project

Pacific Ocean; Douglas County, Oregon

Project Profile & Licensee

This was the first commercial-scale wave energy project to receive a FERC license off the coast of Oregon. OPT targeted developing a 10-buoy wave park 2.5 miles offshore near Reedsport. The project aimed to be built in phases. The first phase was a single buoy which was not grid-connected. The license was for phase II and allowed for deployment grid connection and operation of 10 wave energy converters. Potential project impacts included displacement, loss of forage opportunities and changes in predation rates for marine fishes. Marine mammals were also likely to be affected by the project.

Licensee: Reedsport OPT Wave Park, LLC

Federally Threatened - Listed Species/Species of Concern

FERC Relicensing Status

FERC granted the 10-buoy project a 35-year license in August 2012. The applicant began surrender proceedings in 2015. Subsequently, lands were withdrawn from further actions and site remediation plans put in place. Remediation of the project site was finished and license surrender completed on January 9, 2018.

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More Information

Last updated by West Coast Regional Office on 05/11/2022