The Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) and Oregon State University have concluded detailed negotiations around the development and operation of the Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site (PMEC-SETS), a world-class wave energy test facility to be constructed off the coast of Newport, Oregon.
The Energy Department announced the facility in December 2016. Initial operation is expected beginning summer 2020.
The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University is developing PMEC-SETS, a pre-permitted and grid-connected facility, to help wave energy converter (WEC) device developers bridge a major gap to commercialization—access to economical testing. Testing of wave energy systems is essential to understanding device-ocean interactions and improving early-stage designs.
The site will accommodate up to 20 wave energy converters in four test berths at one time, while supplying up to 20 MW of electricity to the grid, according to plans from Oregon State University. Each of the four test berths will have a dedicated transmission cable.
Wave energy can, in the near-term, support national security objectives by delivering on-site power for defense bases and Navy hardware, as well as remote communities and other coastal and marine industries. In the longer term, utility-scale wave energy could support tens of thousands of jobs and meet electricity demand with local and renewable water resources.