Climate Solutions: 2 Ocean Energy Inches Farther From the Oregon Coast

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) – On a cloudy August morning, Burke Hales was boating a mile off the central Oregon coast, pointing to a sandy beach along the wooded shore. That’s where, said an Oregon State University oceanography professor, undersea cables from the first big wave energy test site in the continental United States will be connected to land and ultimately to the local power grid.

“It’s the most powerful wave state – probably the most energetic – of any test site,” he said as the boat was rocked by high waves pounding the Oregon coast.

Oregon’s coastal waters appear to be critical to advances in two forms of renewable energy: wave power and floating wind turbines. The traditional way of generating electricity is the main cause of climate change, so clean alternatives are key to solving this problem.

Wave energy is at an earlier stage than floating wind, but the potential could be great. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, marine energy – a term used by researchers to refer to energy generated by tides, currents and waves – is the largest untapped energy source in the world. The Biden administration announced Monday that it will invest more than $112 million to improve the design, production and testing of wave energy devices.

Work on floating wind turbines is advanced, but still in its early stages and facing resistance.

The only way to build offshore wind on the West Coast is to use floating turbines. The ocean is too deep to attach traditional turbines to the seafloor, said Mark Severy, a research engineer at Pacific Northwest National Lab who works to solve problems associated with U.S. offshore wind development

So far, there are only a few floating offshore units operating around the world, mostly small pilots in Europe and China testing the technology to pave the way for larger projects. The largest of them is Hywind Tampen – 11 turbines supplying electricity to oil and gas deposits in the Norwegian North Sea. Floating wind has not yet been built in the United States.

California awarded the first-ever U.S. lease to build commercial-scale floating wind farms in 2022. In August, the federal government awarded the nation’s first floating offshore wind exploration lease to Maine to the state, and a commercial lease sale in Oregon will follow next year. month. These are areas where the wind blows fast and strong, which means that a single turbine can generate more electricity than in areas where the wind is not as strong.

In Oregon, opposition from tribes, fishermen and coastal residents highlights some of the challenges associated with offshore renewable energy.

Opposition is largely directed against the U.S. government’s plans for floating wind farms in two areas covering 305 square miles (790 square kilometers) off the southern Oregon coast.

The two areas identified by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are 32 miles (52 km) off the coast of Coos Bay and 18 miles (29 km) from the small town of Brookings, near the California state line.

Some members of these communities fear that construction will harm marine life, marine habitats, culturally significant areas and ocean views. Although the wind patches are many miles from land, the lights used to illuminate the turbines at night will be visible from shore, according to BOEM’s visual simulation.

In November, two coastal counties will ask voters whether they oppose the development of floating offshore wind energy. And the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians – whose culture is connected to the ocean – are suing the federal government ahead of the upcoming lease sale.

BOEM says it has partnered with the tribes. But tribes in Oregon and California have expressed frustration with what they say has been a lack of consultation.

John Ogan, executive director of natural resources for the Coquille Tribe of Indians on Oregon’s southern coast, said meetings with the federal government “talked about our issues, concerns or requests for information without providing a substantive response.”

“We have sacred places,” he said. “Tribal people will never again see the sunset the same way they have for over 10,000 years.”

A wave energy test site in Oregon has not generated similar resistance. Hales, an Oregon State professor who served as chief scientist at the site, attributed this to researchers working with fishermen to determine the site’s location early in the permitting process.

Wave energy test sites allow companies to deploy devices they have designed in a real-world environment to see how they perform. While the PacWave South facility in Oregon is not the nation’s first grid-connected wave energy test facility – the U.S. Navy has one in Hawaii – it will be the first to be connected to the continental U.S. grid.

According to the PRIMRE data portal developed by three national laboratories on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), there are approximately 40 operational grid-connected marine energy projects worldwide. Some are afraid of buoys or sit at the bottom of the sea. Some look like submerged wind turbines.

Hales estimates that winter waves at the Oregon test site could be as high as 20 feet and the maximum output would be 20 megawatts, enough to power about 2,000 homes.

One reason wave energy is still in its infancy and not yet competitive with wind, solar and geothermal energy is that it is difficult for companies to develop designs that will withstand the harshest ocean conditions, where the waves or currents are the strongest, and then convert this motion into electricity efficiently and affordably.

“A huge part of this operation is survivability at sea,” Hales said. “We throw devices made of metal into salt water. They produce electricity. The ability to do this without risking extensive corrosion is a high risk.

Companies also need to consider how the devices will affect marine life, he said. Gray whales, sea lions, seals and seabirds are abundant on the Oregon coast.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has worked to ease tensions over wind development in her state and acknowledged that the federal government’s process of developing the technology “didn’t get off to a good start.” But she said the state must explore renewable energy options — including floating offshore wind — to meet its climate goals.

“In Oregon, we are working towards clean electricity, 100% clean electricity by 2040. That means we need to do more of what we do now and present new options. And that means floating offshore wind is possible,” she said.

“It’s an opportunity. It’s also a challenge,” she added. – But we have to try.