Seattle firm targets waves, wind

A Seattle-based renewable energy company is eyeing six states as possible sites for large offshore wave energy farms.

Grays Harbor Ocean Energy applied for preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in November 2008 for seven sites in six states: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. In addition to space and water depth requirements, the company says it selected sites where electricity is expensive and where states have renewable portfolio standards and incentives for renewable power. Grays Harbor’s applications are currently in the public comment stage.

Although the Minerals Management Service disputes it, FERC claimed jurisdiction over wave energy development in national waters in October 2008.That decision prompted Grays Harbor to apply for the permits, according to company president Burton Hamner. “When FERC opened the door to the national offshore opportunity on Oct. 16, we were ready and we stepped right through,” Hamner wrote in a letter posted on the company's Web site.

The preliminary permits wouldn’t allow construction, but would grant the company exclusive rights for three years to study the site and complete a commercial power project license.

In August 2008, Grays Harbor Ocean Energy announced that it had been granted a preliminary permit for a six-megawatt wave power demonstration project off the Washington coast, near the towns of Westport and Ocean Shores. While Washington is rich in wave power potential, the company says it is not currently pursuing a full-scale project there because Washington’s low electricity costs would render wave-generated power non-competitive.

If the projects are implemented, the company plans to use mobile jack-up platforms that can be floated into place, with oscillating water columns integrated into the platforms’ legs. Power is generated when wave action causes air inside the columns to move up and down, driving turbines. Through a separate application process, Grays Harbor Ocean Energy hopes to add wind turbines to the platforms as well. If all seven sites were constructed, they would generate about 7,500 MW of electricity from wind and wave power, according to Grays Harbor, at a construction cost of about $30 billion.