OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems

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04 / COUNTRY REPORTS
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Device design and verification methodologies
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Ì Methods of measuring and assessing effects on the marine environment
Ì Project data and methods for life cycle cost analysis
Workshop I of Annex V, Open Water Testing, was held in October 2012 in conjunction with the International
Conference on Ocean Energy in Dublin, Ireland. Fifteen of the nineteen OES countries are participating in
Annex V, and eleven of those countries participated in Workshop I. The Workshop provided data exchange on
test facilities currently operating, facilities being planned or under development, and experiences of device
developers that have performed open water testing. The resulting report will detail the Workshop discussions
including the operational and business challenges of test facilities, the needs of device developers for the
testing sites, and planning available test sites so as to allow technology to proceed quickly.
TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION
In 2012 the ocean energy industry in the United States saw several deployments of pre-commercial scale
devices. During that time three of these projects received the first ever hydrokinetic licenses from the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the future build-out of their commercial scale projects.
The following section details these deployments and licenses. For additional information on MHK
technologies in the U.S. and abroad see DOE’s Marine and Hydrokinetic Technology Database http://www.
water.energy.gov/hydrokinetic/default.aspx.
On August 13, 2012 FERC granted Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) a commercial license for the full buildout
of the 1.5 MW, grid-connected Reedsport OPT Wave Park Project (P-12713). This is the first commercial
license issued for a wave power project in the U.S. The license provides approval for the deployment of
up to ten grid-connected OPT devices for 35 years. OPT is working through the permitting and licensing
process to expand this site to 50 MW capacity. This expansion project is called Phase III, and received a
Preliminary Permit on March 15, 2011 (P-13666). From 2009 to 2011 OPT tested its 40 kW PowerBuoy in 30
m depth, approximately three-quarters of a mile offshore at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base on Oahu,
becoming the first grid-connected wave energy device in the U.S. OPT’s 150 kW WEC device (PB150),
initially scheduled to deploy in 2012, was plagued by weather delays and will therefore launch in 2013. This
project will collect detailed data during two years of operation. Additionally, OPT plans to test their utility
scale 500 kW device (PB500) in early 2013.
On December 22, 2011 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation granted Verdant
Power a Water Quality Certification Permit for the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project. On January
23, 2012 FERC granted Verdant Power a 10-year Hydrokinetic Pilot Project License (1.05 MW), making
it the first licensed tidal power project in the U.S. The project is being developed in a phased approach
to include up to 30 turbines providing 1 MW of power. Following the successful testing of Verdant’s
4 th generation Free Flow Kinetic Hydropower device at the RITE project from 2006-2009, Verdant’s 5 th
generation device is planned for installation at that site as well. On September 7, 2012 Verdant completed
an in-water dynamometry test, with over a quarter million valid data points recorded. The dynamometer
turbine was removed the following week and transported by barge to Verdant’s site in Bayonne, NJ. Data
from blade strain gage data recorders in the rotor hub are being processed and analyzed in conjunction
with the other dynamometry data to inform ongoing numerical modeling efforts.
On February 27, 2012 Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) received an 8-year Pilot Project License
from FERC for the 300 kW Cobscook Bay project in Maine, making it the second licensed tidal power
project in the U.S. On April 26, 2012 the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved the primary contract
terms of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the ORPC Maine Tidal Energy Project. These will be the
first long-term PPAs for tidal energy in the United States. On July 24, 2012 ORPC held the dedication
ceremony for the project, making it the first commercial tidal energy project in the U.S. The company’s
first TidGen TM TGU device was successfully deployed on August 14, 2012 and grid-connected the following
month.