Marine hydrokinetics specialist Ocean Energy USA LLC (part of Ocean Energy Group Ireland) has successfully deployed its 826 ton wave energy convertor buoy, the OE-35, at the US Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site on the windward coast of the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. After commissioning and testing onsite, the device will be connected to the Hawaiian electricity grid by subsea cable in the coming weeks.
The utility-scale wave energy device measures 125 x 59 feet, has a draft of over 30 feet, and a potential rated capacity of up to 1.25 MWe power production. It is located north of Mōkapu peninsula, at the WETS site in Kaneohe Bay, having been towed there from Honolulu on 19 July. The US$12 m project is part‐funded by the US Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), under an agreement committing the US and Irish governments to collaborating on marine hydrokinetic technologies.
“Following over a decade and a half of design, trials, testing and building, we are … finally … able to take this major step towards commercialisation with our world-class OE-35 device,” said professor Tony Lewis, Ocean Energy’s chief technology officer. “This internationally significant project couldn’t come online at a more critical time for the US and Ireland as the world needs to accelerate the pace of decarbonization with new and innovative technologies.”
Ocean Energy USA LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ocean Energy Group which is actively pursuing opportunities in the US market. Marine renewables represent a market that is relatively small at present but is expected to grow rapidly over the coming decade. The opportunity for marine energy is that it can meet a significant percentage of the global energy demand, and could represent a market of over US$50 billion a year in electricity sales alone. It is estimated that wave power could meet up to 10% of the world’s electric energy needs.
