Why wave power energy has lagged far behind

Why wave power energy has lagged far behind

This story originally appeared on Yale Environment 360 and is reprinted with permission.

It’s not difficult to imagine what wind energy looks like — by this point we have all seen the towering turbines dotting the landscape. The same goes for solar power and the panels spreading across rooftops worldwide. But another form of renewable energy, available in huge quantities, doesn’t really call to mind anything at all: What does wave power technology look like?








As with any energy source, the fundamental roadblock toward more widespread deployment is cost. So far, the wave energy field is filled with small companies picking off small amounts of government funding where they can. It likely will require the participation of some large companies, such as GE or Siemens (both major manufacturers of wind turbines), before wave power really gets rolling, according to numerous experts. Those companies may be waiting for the technology to sort itself out before investing, a common dilemma in any nascent field.

In spite of the challenges inherent to the medium, the industry is progressing, albeit slowly. A few small wave farms and pilot projects are in the water, including Pelamis Wave Power’s first wave farm off the coast of Northern Portugal. That company has a few megawatt-scale wave farms planned, while others, such as Ocean Power Technologies, continue to deploy test devices to improve buoy-based technology.


Another company, M3 Wave, plans to install a new device just off the Oregon coast this summer. M3 will use a pressure-based device, sitting out of sight on the ocean floor. As a wave passes over it, air inside the device is pushed by pressure changes from one chamber to another, spinning a turbine to generate electricity.

So far, projects producing only a handful of megawatts actually have made it into the water, but experts say the industry needn’t settle on one device before substantial progress occurs.


The process to refine those technologies is ongoing. The European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland’s Orkney Islands allows companies to connect their devices to existing infrastructure and cabling to test their electricity-generating capabilities and identify problems. Batten said her center based at Oregon State is in the permitting and approval process for a counterpart testing center (PDF) that will enable companies to connect to the existing electricity grid for testing purposes.

The location of those two testing sites is no accident, as they are situated in maritime regions known for energetic waves. The Pacific Northwest and Alaska likely will have a monopoly on the U.S.’s first generation of wave projects, while in Europe the United Kingdom — Scotland in particular — is focusing heavily on wave energy development. The U.K. government says the country potentially could get as much as 75 percent of its energy needs from the waves and tides combined; the U.S. Department of Energy, meanwhile, estimates that wave power in the U.S. could generate as much 1,170 terawatt-hours per year, equivalent to more than one-quarter of all U.S. electricity consumption.

Thresher of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory says that wave power’s first markets may well be in remote places such as Alaska, where energy is expensive because of reliance on costly imported fuels such as diesel. “There has been an interest in some of the island communities,” Thresher said.

With the industry starting to develop larger projects and continuing to test myriad devices in search of the best designs, does that mean wave power finally could be on its way, just as wind was 25 years ago?




Photo of ocean wave by ChrisVanLennepPhoto via Shutterstock