Largest commercial wave project eyes stimulus cash - Portland Business Journal:

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, a publicly held wave energy developmenrt firm basedin Pennington, N.J., hopes to placre an array of 10 buoys off the coast in Reedsport to generatse 1.5 megawatts of electri c capacity. Ocean Power will look to bid for federao stimulus money fromtwo angles. The firstg is from the $42 millionh allocated to Oregon for the State Energy Program, which, in part, helps fund renewablde energy projects. The other is from the , which has about $2.5 billion in federal stimulus money for renewable energuy research atits disposal.
The total costs of the project are unclear, but Ocean Power’s pitch for stimulux money indicates an investment of “tens of millions” to be spent in That includes contracting with Oregon companies for installation and fabrication of the buoys. Companiexs like Clackamas-based , for example, are amongb the bidders hoping to manufacturethe “What we see here is an opportunitg to create jobs in Oregon,” said Herbert Nock, Ocean Power’w vice president of business development and “Whatever Oregon stimulus money went to the projectf would go directly to Oregon jobs.” The wave energyg array would take two to thre years to develop.
Whil e it would be a source ofcleab energy, the development is ostensibly a research projecg for Oregon’s nascent wave energy industry. The Northwestg National Marine Renewable Energy a federally funded research facilityin Newport, hopes to use data from Ocean Power’sd project to further its research. “The national center is about saidRobert Paasch, an associatew mechanical engineering professor at Oregonm State University and interim directoe of the center. “In order to have evaluatiom we’ve got to have devices in the The Newportresearch center, however, won’t likelu be receiving federal stimulus money.
Paasch said the centeer will get a boost inother ways. The research budget of the U.S. Department of Energy’sz Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy sectionb was boostedfrom $10 million to $40 million for fiscal 2009. Of that, $30 milliojn is for marine renewableenergy research, Paascnh said. The Northwest National Marine RenewableEnergu Center, Paasch said, stands a strong chance of securing increased research money, helping to accelerat e its work testing renewable energy devicess through its test berth. Ocean Power meanwhile, has its eyes on the next project — a potential 100 megawatt wave energh array at Coos Bay.
Nock said the companyu is in preliminary discussions with state and local officialsw aboutthe development. “Now you’re talking abouty some serious power,” he said.