Construction has begun off Oregon’s coast on a commercial U.S. wave energy farm. PNGC Power and Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) are working cooperatively on this renewable energy project which harnesses ocean wave resources to generate electricity and is planned to supply power to about 400 homes.

The system is being installed 2.5 miles off the Oregon coast near Reedsport, and represents the first phase of an expected 10-PowerBuoy Reedsport wave power station with a generating capacity of about 1.5 MW. The wave park will consist of ten PB150 PowerBuoys, an undersea substation to collect the power, and a submarine cable to deliver the renewable power to the Bonneville Power Administration’s electric grid. Each PB150 PowerBuoy® has a maximum sustained generating capacity of 150 kW. The development is the first commercial-scale wave power farm in the U.S.

The first buoy is 150 feet tall by 40 feet wide, weighs 200 tons and cost $4 million, according to Phil Pellegrino, spokesman for New Jersey-based developer Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. The PowerBuoy PB150, which is the result of more than 15 years of research and development, uses the rise and fall of waves to move the buoy up and down and drive an electric generator inside the buoy. The electricity is then conditioned and transmitted ashore as high-voltage power via an underwater cable. The Reedsport wave power station connects directly to the Bonneville Power Administration’s Gardiner Substation. PNGC Power has signed an agreement with OPT and may purchase some of the electricity generated in Phase Two of the project. OPT plans to place a total of up to ten PB150 units at Reedsport over the next two to three years.

Clearwater Power Company is one of 16 electric cooperatives located in the Northwest that owns PNGC Power. Clearwater Power Company and PNGC Power have a strong commitment to evaluate promising renewables.

Wave energy is non-polluting and is a good way to meet growing public demand. Wave power has some advantages over other types of renewable energy. “Sun comes and goes and during the nighttime you can’t get any solar power for your photovoltaics. Wind energy is also intermittent, but wave energy is constant and continuous,” says Charles Dunleavy, CEO of OPT. In addition, wave energy is not subject to fluctuating worldwide oil markets.