Abstract
Oregon State University (OSU) is filing this license application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to authorize the construction and operation of the proposed PacWave South (Project; formerly known as Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site [PMEC-SETS]), a grid-connected wave energy test facility. The Project would be located in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 nautical miles off the coast of Newport, Oregon on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and would occupy an area of approximately 2 square nautical miles (1,695 acres). The Project would support up to 20 commercial-scale wave energy converters (WECs) and transfer power to a grid connection point with the Central Lincoln People’s Utility District (CLPUD) in Lincoln County, Oregon. With this application, OSU is seeking a 25-year FERC license authorizing construction and operation of the PacWave South Project with an installed capacity not to exceed 20 megawatts (MW) at any time under the FERC license term. As a grid-connected test facility, PacWave South would provide developers of WECs the opportunity to:
- Optimize WECs and arrays to increase their energy capture, improve their survivability and reliability, and decrease their levelized cost of energy;
- Refine deployment, recovery, operations, and maintenance procedures;
- Collect interconnection and grid synchronization data; and
- Gather information about potential environmental effects, and economic and social benefits
As such, the primary purpose of the proposed Project is to serve as a facility to allow clients to test full-scale WECs, with generation and transmittal of power to the grid being a secondary Project purpose. The Project has also been designed to specifically support the mission, vision, and goals of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Water Power Technologies Office to improve performance, lower costs, and accelerate deployment of innovative technologies for clean, domestic power generation from resources such as hydropower, waves, and tidal technologies. Testing conducted at PacWave South would advance the development of WEC technologies, and thus further the nation’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, diversify its energy supply, provide cost-competitive electricity to key coastal regions, and stimulate revitalization of key sectors of the economy.
Several appendices included in this application provide key environmental information and are listed below.
- Appendix A. Draft Biological Assessment
- Appendix B. Bird and Bat Conservation Strategy
- Appendix D. PacWave Site Characterization Report
- Appendix E. Navigation Safety Risk Assessment
- Appendix H. Monitoring Plans
- Appendix I. Protection, Mitigation, and Enhancement Measures
- Appendix J. Adaptive Management Framework
- Appendix K. Habitat Mitigation Plan Developed for ODFW
- Appendix M. Geophysical and Geotechnical Survey Reports