Wave Energy Developer Pulls Plug On Oregon Project
Developers have scrapped their plans to build the nation’s first large-scale wave energy project off the Oregon Coast, saying the costs were too high to make it work.
The much-anticipated project would have placed a flotilla of 100 energy-producing buoys, each the size of a school bus, in the waves off the coast of Reedsport, Ore.
The project’s developer, Ocean Power Technologies, surrendered its preliminary permit with the federal government, Oregon regulators disclosed Monday.
The project generated national headlines in the run-up to its planned launch in October, 2012. But after it delayed the deployment of its first buoy, the project seemed to be stuck on hold. ...
Kevin Watkins is the Pacific Northwest representative for Ocean Power Technologies. He said developing wave energy and implementing it on a large scale just became too expensive and too complicated.
Watkins also noted a difficult regulatory process, involving both state and federal regulations.
“The technical challenges, the operational challenges, coordinating with all the stakeholders including the state and federal agencies … it’s just taking longer than OPT had predicted,” Watkins said.
The company still plans a smaller project in the same area with 10 smaller buoys, beginning the summer of 2015.
Company was planning for a 100 MW project. They've had a number of technical and financial problems the last couple years. Also met a lot of resistance from locals, particularly crab fishermen.
The smaller project mentioned above is projected to generate 15 MW, not even a rounding error when it comes to regional capacity.