Climate solutions: 2 kinds of ocean energy inch forward off the Oregon coast

NEWPORT, Ore. — On a cloudy late August morning, Burke Hales was on a boat a mile off the central Oregon coast, pointing to a sandy beach along the forested shoreline. It was there, the Oregon State University oceanography professor said, that the subsea cables from the first large wave energy test site in the continental U.S. will connect to land — and ultimately the local power grid.

“This is the highest power — probably the most energetic — wave condition of any of the test sites out there,” he said, as the high swells known to pound the Oregon coast rocked the boat.

The coastal waters of Oregon are shaping up to be key for advances in two forms of renewable energy: wave power and wind turbines that float. The way electricity is traditionally made is a major cause of climate change, so clean alternatives are key to addressing it.

Wave energy is at an earlier stage than floating wind, but the potential could be big. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, marine energy, a term researchers use to refer to power generated from tides, currents or waves, is the world’s largest untapped energy resource. The Biden administration announced Monday it will invest over $112 million to boost the design, fabrication and testing of wave energy devices.

The work on floating wind turbines is further along, but still early, and encountering resistance.

The only way to build offshore wind power on the West Coast is to use floating turbines. The ocean is too deep to affix traditional turbines to the seafloor, said Mark Severy, a research engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Lab who works on addressing challenges to offshore wind development in the U.S.

So far there are only a handful of floating offshore arrays across the globe, mostly small pilots in Europe and China, testing the technology to pave the way for larger projects. The largest is Hywind Tampen, 11 turbines that supply electricity to oil and gas fields in the Norwegian North Sea. Floating wind has not yet been constructed in the United States.

California awarded the first-ever leases in the U.S. to develop commercial-scale floating wind farms in 2022. The federal government issued the nation’s first floating offshore wind research lease to the state of Maine in August, and Oregon’s commercial lease sale is next month. These are areas where the wind blows fast and hard, meaning a single turbine can generate more electricity than in areas where the wind isn’t as strong.

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

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

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

Some in those communities are concerned that the construction will harm sea life, marine habitat, culturally important areas and views of the ocean. While the wind areas are miles from land, the lights used to illuminate the turbines at night would be visible from the shore, according to a BOEM visual simulation.

Two coastal counties will ask voters in November whether they oppose the development of floating offshore wind. And the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians — whose culture is tied to the ocean — sued the federal government ahead of its upcoming lease sale.

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

John Ogan, executive director of natural resources for the Coquille Indian Tribe on the southern Oregon coast, said that tribal members during meetings with the federal government were “talked at without having our issues or our concerns or requests for information responded to in a substantive way."

“We have sacred sites,” he said. “Tribal people will never see a sunset the same way, as they have for 10,000-plus years, ever again.”

Oregon's wave energy test site hasn’t sparked similar resistance. Hales, the Oregon State professor serving as chief scientist for the site, attributed this to researchers working together with fishermen to identify the location for the site early in the permitting process.

Wave energy test sites allow companies to deploy devices they’ve designed in a real-world environment to see how they fare. While the PacWave South site in Oregon isn’t the first grid-connected wave energy test site in the nation — the U.S. Navy has one in Hawaii — it will be the first to be connected to the continental U.S. grid.

Globally there are roughly 40 operational, grid-connected marine energy projects, according to the PRIMRE data portal developed by three national laboratories on behalf of the U.S. Energy Department, or DOE. Some bob like buoys or sit on the sea floor. Some look like submerged wind turbines.

With waves topping 20 feet (6 meters) possible at the Oregon test site in winter, Hales estimates its peak capacity will be 20 megawatts — enough to power some 2,000 homes.

One reason wave energy is still in its infancy and not yet competitive with wind, solar and geothermal power is because it’s challenging for companies to develop projects that can withstand the harshest ocean conditions where the waves or currents are the strongest, then convert that movement to electricity efficiently and affordably.

“A huge part of this operation is survivability at sea,” Hales said. “We’re putting devices made of metal into salt water. They’re generating electricity. Being able to do that without suffering extensive corrosion is high risk.”

Companies also have to consider how devices would affect sea life, he said. Gray whales, sea lions, seals and sea birds abound on the Oregon coast.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has been working to ease tensions over wind development in her state and acknowledged that the federal government's process for developing it “hasn't started off on the right foot.” But she said the state must explore renewable energy options — including floating offshore wind — in order to meet its climate goals.

“In Oregon, we are working towards clean electricity, 100% clean electricity, by 2040. That means what we’re doing now, we have to do more of, and we need to put new options on the table. And that means offshore floating wind as a possibility,” she said.

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

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McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island.