[The Vector] Ocean Energy Projects – A Domestic Sampling
The Vector has written about Ocean Energy in earlier posts. Today we highlight some exciting domestic projects.
** The first U.S. Wave Energy farm launched a test program this spring in Oregon. Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is running the test program, with floating buoys that harness the natural up and down movement of the waves. The ebb and flow movement causes the pump to move in a circular motion which drives an electric generator, with energy sent to shore through submerged cables. This farm is being financed by Oregon tax credits, Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative and the U.S. Department of Energy.
** Verdant Power initiated the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project in New York City’s East River. It is a three phase project. Phase 1 (2002-2006) was proto-type testing, and Phase 2 (2006-2008) was demonstration. Currently it is in Phase 3 (2009-2012) with the MW Scale build out. Verdant operated six full-scale turbines, which successfully demonstrated the Free Flow System turbines as being efficient and workable. During Phase 2, Verdant proved there was no power quality problems, that all turbines operated well, the bidirectional operations were successful (using both ebb and flood tides), and there was no fouling or damage from debris. Verdant delivered 70 MW hours of energy to two end users with 9,000 hours of turbine operation. Currently, Verdant has applied to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) for the license to build out up to 30 turbine systems and deliver energy to local customer.
** Verdant has also begun the CORE (Cornwall Ontario River Energy) Project. On July 27th, it was announced that two 18 ton prototype turbines will be placed in the St. Lawrence River. The engines will produce 250 KW of power when installed and connected within a month. They will be tested to see if they are able to produce power at a lower cost than traditional hydropower plants. Federal and local governments are spending about $6M on the project and testing, with 30 jobs created from the project. ** The State of Maine and Nova Scotia have partnered in Ocean Energy with a Memorandum of Understanding. Some of the strongest tides in the world are found in this area – the Bay of Fundy has over 100 billion tons of water flow each day alone. The agreement is for mutual support in developing renewable Ocean Energies, which include sharing of information between developers, policy makers and researchers.
** FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with California state officials to coordinate Ocean Energy projects off the Californian coast. This follows similar agreements FERC has signed with Washington, Oregon and Maine. The Memorandum of Understanding provides that both sides will encourage developers to seek pilot and testing program licenses prior to full commercial licenses.
** The first offshore U.S. wind project is the well-publicized Cape Wind project, the 468-megawatt Cape Wind project off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard (MA) which encountered resistance and troubles for 8 years. It is poised to become our first offshore project – construction takes 2 years.
It seems worth looking at a summary of how difficult the process was. Cape Wind Associates LLC applied for a permit in November 2001 for the offshore wind power facility, with the permit issues in August 2002 to construct a meteorological tower to measure wind speeds and gather data. By November, the Army Corp of Engineers issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for comments – more than 5,000 public comments were received. Following the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Department of Interior was given authority to issue leases, grants, and such for renewable energy projects, and they delegated authority to the Minerals Management Service, who became the lead agency. It reviewed the EIS and called for a new one inviting 18 cooperating agencies to participate.
By January 2008, the new EIS was available (government works at the speed of lightening) showing impacts to be negligible. 42,000 comments were received. Various consultations and meetings were held from 2008 to January 2010, with much conflict and resistance. Secretary Salazar terminated consultations in March 2010 as it was evident agreement among all parties could not be reached which included resistance from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and several Indian tribes. On April 28, 2010, Secretary Salazar signed a Record of Decision (ROD) that approved the project.
The Cape Wind website shows what was lost during the 9 year struggle. The Website says:
If Cape Wind were operational since we started monitoring this data we would have produced the following amount of clean renewable energy and greenhouse gas offsets:
11,748,446 Cumulative MW hours
6,126,424 Tons of CO2
** The Great Lakes Wind Collaborative was established in 2008 to identify and address issues affecting the planning, development, and operation of offshore wind power facilities in the Great Lakes region. Grants from Wind Powering America and a major wind company provided a total of $100,000 in first year funding. The Collaborative has since been formally adopted as an initiative of the Great Lakes Commission, which will serve as Secretariat, providing staff support. Members include nine states/provinces, US and Canadian agencies, and industry, academic, environmental, and stakeholder interests.
The Michigan Economic Development Corp. and Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association commissioned a dry run permitting process, with the report delivered in 2008. It explores a hypothetical 100 turbine offshore wind farm in both deep water 30 miles from shore and near-shore shallow water.
** On December 1, 2009, the New York Power Authority (NYPA) issued a call for a 120-500 MW offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes, as a part of the Great Lakes Offshore Wind (GLOW) initiative. Five proposals were received in summer of 2010 and are currently under review. “The goal here is to develop within the next five years an offshore wind project in the Great Lakes that will produce a minimum of 120 megawatts of clean, renewable energy,” said the NYPA President. NYPA hope that In less than five years to generate between 120 and 500 megawatts of power by installing up to 166, 420-foot-tall wind turbines off the shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie or both. The $1 billion project could meet the energy demands of up to 615,000 New Yorkers and draw down on its fossil fuel plants.
** GE and Lake Erie Energy Development will partner to build the first fresh water offshore wind farm in the U.S. GE will provide turbines and maintenance services for a 20-megawatt offshore farm to be completed by late 2012. The company will be installing 4-megawatt turbines that incorporate direct-drive technology gained when GE bought ScanWind in 2009. The goal is to install 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie by 2020, according to a statement from GE.
** The city of King Cove, Alaska (population 800 in the Aleutians) has concluded after studies that wave power systems could produce significant power. Because of its location, King Cove relies heavily on expensive diesel fuel power generation. It has four diesel plants with capacity of about 2.5 MW, and decided to reduce its dependence on diesel with implementation of ocean energy, tapping both the Pacific and Bering Sea. After numerous studies, systems are now being tested, including the first prototype of the Archimedes Wave Swing.
** After a year of testing at the U.S. Department of Energy Lab and Savannah River National Laboratory, a “sonic wind profiler” was mounted in the Atlantic Ocean near Georgetown, South Carolina in early August 2010. The SODAR (sonic detection and ranging) device records accurate data at high altitudes using advanced technology. The deployment at sea will now test and evaluate the technology’s compatibility with harsh ocean conditions. The modeling data could help determine the feasibility of offshore wind farms.
** Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has been designated as a national center for Ocean Energy research and development by the U.S. Department of Energy. FAU is ideally located to oversee development of technologies. The new Southeast National Marine Renewable Energy Center (SNMREC) at FAU, which already had the award-winning Center for Ocean Energy Technology joins centers in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii for Department of Energy funding and research. It will collaborate with industry partners to investigate, refine, make and test next-generation Ocean Energy technologies.
