Renewable energy, of course, is growing in acceptance. Solar panels on people homes have become ubiquitous. Solar “farms” are growing in popularity as people and governments see this is a clean way to generate electricity from land that may not otherwise have commercial value. And now wind turbines are growing in popularity, as the source of power is a little bit more constant. An offshore wind project off the Massachusetts coast that would create 800 MW of electricity (enough to power 400,000 homes) was approved by the federal government. The Vineyard Wind project would be the first utility-scale wind power development in federal waters.
Other sources of clean energy exist and one form, which has worked experimentally, got a boost recently to see if it can create clean power “in the field”. Or rather, the water. It is ocean waves. Wave action, as anybody who has spent time on an ocean beach or sailing in the ocean, is relentless. Those constantly rocking waves, which brings nausea and other problems for some people, can also result in electricity generation. Given the large quantity of ocean and if harnessed properly, wave action may yield a significant yield of electricity. While solar and wind have issues (the sun is not always shining and wind speeds vary and often subside), wave action off most ocean coasts never stops.
On March 1, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Oregon State University the first license in the US for an ocean wave energy testing facility. A cable will be installed to connect an offshore location with a testing facility and the local power grid. As many as 20 technologies will be installed and tested to determine their capability to and efficiency of producing electricity, as well as each one’s reliability over time, ability to scale up, reactions to changing conditions in the ocean and atmosphere, and any impacts each may have on the ocean, the fishing industry, and aquatic life.
The goal is to be able to narrow down the potential wave technologies and assess the most successful ones by 2023.
Of course, even if successful, wave technology has its limitations. Geographically, if operable, it can only serve the US coasts, as the costs of and losses through transmission of electricity to inland sections of the country are high. But if wave action can be a useful source of clean, cheap, reliable, and consistent electricity for large states like California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, and others, then it will be a benefit for all.
A related source of renewable power is tidal, the power of underwater tides to push turbines and make electricity. Here is an article about research being done in Scotland: https://slate.com/technology/2021/06/orbital-marine-power-scotland-ocean-energy.html
CCES has the experts to help your firm determine which source of renewable power can be best for your operations and to help make your operations more energy efficient to reduce your energy costs and to scale down a future needed system. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.