U.S. Licenses First Wave Energy Project

The nation's first hydrokinetic energy project, producing electricity from ocean waves, has been licensed for construction by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The Makah Bay Offshore Wave Pilot Project, located in the Pacific Ocean 1.9 nautical miles off the coast of Washington State, will be capable of producing about 1000-kilowatts of electricity from its four wave energy conversion buoys.

"For the first time, we allow the harnessing of electricity from wave energy-power that results from the gravitational pull of the moon," said FERC commissioner Philip Moeller in a press release. "Consumers are demanding more renewable energy options, especially those sources that are domestic, renewable, and carbon-free."

The project will be constructed by AquaEnergy Group Ltd., a division of Finavera Renewables Limited, a privately held Irish company specializing in renewable energy.

The license issued by FERC contains conditions requiring that the project be shut down or removed, should its operation be found to have unacceptably adverse impacts on the surrounding ocean environment. Potential environmental impacts include the possible entanglement of debris in the project's underwater transmission and anchoring cables, and the effects of the project's electromagnetic fields on nearby marine life.

The project, which could take as long as three years to complete, still requires state and local approval.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent, regulatory agency charged with overseeing the economic, environmental, and safety interests of all U.S. energy industries.

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