The Next Wave?
Report sees greater U.S. resources
Could wave and tidal energy be the next wave in massive clean energy potential? New reports suggest the energy is significantly greater than a previous report revealed.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) just released two reports that estimates the country's ocean wave and tidal resource energy potential is at 2,640 terrawatt hours per year. That’s 26 percent higher than an Electric Power Research Institute study from 2004.
The report data concludes that U.S. water power resources, including ocean wave, tidal and conventional hydropower, have the potential to provide 15 percent of our nation's electricity by 2030.
The Mapping and Assessment of the United States Ocean Wave Energy Resource report is a follow-up to the EPRI study.
The Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States, led by researchers at Georgia Tech Research Corporation in collaboration with DOE, is the first of its kind in the U.S. and includes a geographic information systems (GIS) tool available for public use.
The recoverable ocean and tidal resources is somewhat less than one-half of the full potential, or 1,170 TWh per year. “The increases … are largely because that prior estimate was intentionally conservative,” the report says.
"The release of both reports demonstrates the attainable energy potential of our nation's vast ocean resources,” said Sean O'Neill, the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition's president. "DOE's investment in these studies, as well as the corresponding results, is a testament to the importance of our unique opportunity to pursue a diverse energy portfolio that includes wave and tidal energy in an effort to secure our energy supply, create jobs and lower greenhouse gas emissions.”
The tidal energy assessment designates and details data for energy resource 'hot spots' across the U.S. including Alaska, Maine, Washington, Oregon, California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
The greatest potential exists in Alaska, with 620 TWh per year. This is followed by the West Coast, in Washington, Oregon and California, with 250 TWh per year. The East Coast follows at 160 TWh per year, then comes Hawaii at 80 TWh per year, with the Gulf Coast at 60 TWh per year.
The reports are the most rigorous assessments thus far undertaken by DOE and its collaborative partners, and show the significant renewable energy contributions that waves and tidal currents off of U.S. coasts could provide to the grid. DOE said the information in the resource assessments could "help to further develop the country's significant ocean energy resources, create new industries and new jobs in America, and secure U.S. leadership in an emerging global market.”
The fact that the world’s premium locations for ocean wave energy generation are outside the United States increases the likelihood that progress in developing and refining this technology would likely remain private, according to energy research Harry Valentine.. While this lack of government funds may appear to be a disadvantage, it would likely reduce malinvestment in developing the technology.
Over the long-term future, ocean wave power conversion (as well as ocean tidal power conversion) could likely become more cost effective, more reliable, more cost competitive and offer higher energy density over equal area than wind power conversion or solar photovoltaic power conversion. It could come to play a significant role in the economic future of several nations.
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Comments
Tidal and wave power
I have worked on the design of a tidal power scheme in north-western Australia and I am on the expert advisory group that was working on a 5800 MW tidal power scheme just north of Mumbai. I am also good friends with Prof Norman Bellamy of Coventry University who has been working on wave power for the last 30 years.
None of these technologies can provide a large proportion of our electricity needs at anywhere near an acceptable price. Although tidal power is predictable, a typical ebb generation hydropower scheme produces electricity for about 8 hours a day and, of course at various times. Also, during neap tides, the maximum output is much lower. So to supply a major proportion of the electricity, a tidal power scheme would need to be backed up by an energy storage scheme capable of storing large amounts of energy for 2 weeks or more. No such technology exists–at any price.
Although wave power offers 24-hour generation none of the present devices for generating electricity from waves appear to be anywhere near economic. All the devices so far are necessarily extremely heavy and if you cost them out at $10,000 per tonne (a very conservative figure) the cost of the electricity they produce is very high. Also, the amount of power they generate varies with the size of waves so you still have the storage problem.
The only wave power device that has any hope of commercial success is currently being developed by Prof Bellamy. It operates on a completely different principle from all other wave power devices.