Frequently
Asked
Questions
Where are the best waves?
What is the impact on the environment?
What is the demand for electric power?
Is there enough ocean energy potential
to be worthwhile for California?
What are anticipated costs of ocean wave
energy?
What California ocean energy projects
are underway?
Is government funding for ocean wave
energy conversion (WEC) system development available in California?
What about elsewhere?
Where are the best waves?
Generally, they are located at high latitudes and west coasts of continents.
Please view the global
wave atlas, which is based upon satellite data.
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What is the impact on the
environment?
Wave power is renewable, green, pollution-free, and environmentally benign,
if not beneficial, particularly offshore. Capturing it involves no emissions
of any kind, and extracting it has a minimal, if any, effect on the environment.
Its net potential (resource minus "costs") is equal to or better than wind,
solar, small hydro or biomass power.
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What is the demand for
electric power?
Currently, the U.S. has 750,000MW of installed electric power generation.
The Department of Energy estimates the demand for power will increase 52%
over the next 20 years to reach in excess of 1,100,000MW. 81% of this new
demand is expected to be non-petroleum fueled. The DOE has estimated this
increase to represent a $17 billion per year industry.
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Is there enough ocean energy
potential to be worthwhile for California?
All renewable energy sources, combined, supply only 12 percent of the state's
power. For northern CA, the yearly average incident wave power density
has been estimated at around 26 MW/kilometer. A 1991 study by Pacific Gas
& Electric Co. estimated that the swells off Northern California potentially
could generate up to 10,500 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply
more than 20 percent of the state's current annual power demand. This is
despite the estimate that only 20 percent of the available energy in the
waves actually could be harvested because of technological and environmental
constraints. The available energy may be underestimated. A CEC study will
re-evaluate that estimate and re-calculate how much electricity could be
produced along the state's 1,100-mile coastline (see question on government
funding below). Note that, in Southern California, we get significant swells
off Point Loma from storms in the Gulf of Alaska and even from the "Roaring
Forties" in the Southern Hemisphere
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What are anticipated costs
of ocean wave energy?
For now, the best wave generator technology in place in the United Kingdom
is producing energy at an average projected/assessed cost of 7.5 cents
per kilowatt-hour. But it is expected that improving technology and economies
of scale will allow wave generators to produce electricity at a significantly
reduced cost. This issue is central to POWER’s mission. Investment in technology
improvement is needed to drive down the cost of wave energy production.
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What California ocean energy
plant projects are underway?
So far, there are no plants located in California, although economic feasibility
studies have been performed for a 30 MW wave converter to be located at
Half Moon Bay. Additional smaller projects have been discussed at Fort
Bragg, San Francisco and Avila Beach.
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Is government funding for
ocean wave energy conversion (WEC) system development available in California?
Presently there is no US federal funding for the construction of WEC demonstration
projects. Over the last few years, the Navy’s Office of Naval Research
(ONR) has funded some research through its SBIR program. However the level
of funding is not sufficient for full-scale demonstration projects.
Although the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast has excellent potential,
prior to December 2000, the California Energy Commission (CEC) did not
list ocean wave energy as a renewable resource. In early 2001, a professor
at San Diego State University assembled a loosely knit group of scientists,
academics, and device developers into the California Wave Energy Consortium.
It made multiple efforts throughout 2001 to obtain funding from the CEC.
But the CEC has declined to fund any wave energy device projects until
they see the results of a wave energy resource study. Funding for a resource
study was announced in March 2002.
The California's Energy Innovations Small Grant (EISG) Program provides
up to $75,000 to small businesses, non-profits, individuals and academic
institutions to conduct research that establishes the feasibility of new,
innovative energy concepts. Details on this subject can be found at: http://www.energy.ca.gov/research/innovations
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What about elsewhere?
Many countries have forged ahead with government-funded marine power stations.
As of 1995, 685 kilowatts (kW) of grid-connected wave generating capacity
was operating worldwide. This capacity comes from eight demonstration plants
ranging in size from 20 kW to 350 kW.
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Last revised: April 9, 2002