Renewable Energy Technology Assessments - Kauai Island Utility ...

Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative
Renewable Energy Technology Assessments
3.0 Renewable Energy Technology
Options
Kahoolawe, and on the southeast coast of Maui. Large offshore plants could be located
around any of the islands. The following table summarizes the potential for OTEC in
Kauai over the next 20 years.
Table 3-22. Developable Potential from Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.
Year Energy,
GWh
Capacity,
MW
3 0 0
5 0 0
Notes
Technology not expected to be fully commercial for
utility power applications
10 > 500 > 80 Sufficient potential to supply all of Kauai’s electricity
20 > 500 > 80
3.6.2 Wave
The power of ocean waves can be harnessed using a wave energy conversion
system (WECS). Many hundreds of WECS technologies have been suggested; only a
very small proportion of these have been evaluated beyond the concept stage, and of
those only a limited number have been developed beyond laboratory testing to
deployment as prototypes in real sea conditions. Most of the development work is being
performed in Europe, although there is work ongoing in the US, India, Australia, and the
Far East countries.
Applications
WECS are generally categorized as shore-based (onshore and near-shore) or
offshore systems. There are two basic shore-based wave energy designs: oscillating
water column (OWC) devices, and overtopping-tapered channel (TAPCHAN) devices.
Examples of these two shore-based technologies are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 3-11. Onshore Wave Energy Devices (Source: EU’s Atlas Project).
21 March 2005 3-51 Black & Veatch