WEBVTT NOTE recognizability 0.813 NOTE language en-us 00:00:01.850 --> 00:00:05.942 The world's oceans are a vast untapped energy resource. Waves off the 00:00:05.942 --> 00:00:09.352 coast of the US could theoretically generate 2.64 trillion kilowatt 00:00:09.352 --> 00:00:11.057 hours of electricity per year. 00:00:11.750 --> 00:00:14.900 That's about 64% of last year's total utility scale electricity 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:19.310 generation in the US we won't need that much. But one day, experts do 00:00:19.310 --> 00:00:23.090 hope that wave energy will comprise about 10 to 20% of our 00:00:23.090 --> 00:00:26.870 electricity mix. So wave power is really the last missing piece to 00:00:26.870 --> 00:00:30.335 help us to transition to 100% renewables. But while scientists have 00:00:30.335 --> 00:00:33.800 long understood the power of waves, it's proven difficult to build 00:00:33.800 --> 00:00:37.580 devices that can harness that energy. So the ocean is a challenging, 00:00:37.580 --> 00:00:40.730 challenging environment to work in. It's a challenging environment to 00:00:40.730 --> 00:00:43.758 build infrastructure in. It moves, sometimes violently. It gets 00:00:43.758 --> 00:00:47.201 corrosive. Now, though, an influx of federal funding is helping many 00:00:47.201 --> 00:00:50.644 U.S. companies gear up to test their latest wave energy converters, 00:00:50.644 --> 00:00:54.087 as the nation's first full scale grid connected test facility for 00:00:54.087 --> 00:00:57.843 these technologies, called Pack Wave, is set to come online over the 00:00:57.843 --> 00:01:01.599 next few years. Pack wave really represents for us an opportunity to 00:01:01.599 --> 00:01:05.042 address one of the most critical barriers to enabling wave energy, 00:01:05.042 --> 00:01:09.111 and that's getting devices into the open ocean that will help the US 00:01:09.111 --> 00:01:11.928 catch up with its European counterparts who've been testing. 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:16.040 Wave energy devices off the coast of Scotland since the early 2000s. 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.340 But while many prototypes have been developed, it's still unclear 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:22.310 what technology will prove viable for grid scale electricity 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:25.610 production. They're just this vast array of approaches to turning 00:01:25.610 --> 00:01:28.910 oscillatory motion into ultimately electrical power. We spoke with a 00:01:28.910 --> 00:01:31.880 number of companies pursuing different technologies and learned how 00:01:31.880 --> 00:01:35.510 this emergent energy source could help us transition to an all 00:01:35.510 --> 00:01:39.140 renewable world if we can get it to work at scale. 00:01:46.320 --> 00:01:49.788 Besides the fact that the ocean is a rough environment, the very 00:01:49.788 --> 00:01:52.967 nature of waves themselves means harnessing their energy is much less 00:01:52.967 --> 00:01:55.568 straightforward than, say, wind or hydropower. Winds and currents, 00:01:55.568 --> 00:01:59.903 they go in One Direction. It's very easy to spin a turbine or a a 00:01:59.903 --> 00:02:02.793 windmill when you've got linear movement. The waves really aren't 00:02:02.793 --> 00:02:06.839 linear, they're oscillating. And So what we have to be able to do is 00:02:06.839 --> 00:02:10.018 turn this oscillatory energy into some sort of capturable form. There 00:02:10.018 --> 00:02:13.486 are a number of different ways to do this, but generally speaking, 00:02:13.486 --> 00:02:16.665 devices work by harnessing the up and down, back and forth. 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:19.912 The rotational motion of the waves to drive a generator to create 00:02:19.912 --> 00:02:23.466 electricity. Some companies are now attempting to harness energy from 00:02:23.466 --> 00:02:26.994 multiple different modes of motion, and what we don't really know is 00:02:26.994 --> 00:02:30.816 which of those is best. In a real world, full scale system 1 00:02:30.816 --> 00:02:34.050 technology might work really well for large, slow, open ocean swells, 00:02:34.050 --> 00:02:37.284 and other technology might work really well for choppier wind wave 00:02:37.284 --> 00:02:41.106 kinds of energy. If wave energy proves to be scalable, it has the 00:02:41.106 --> 00:02:44.634 potential to be an excellent complement to wind and solar, since it 00:02:44.634 --> 00:02:46.986 can produce energy 24/7 in all weather conditions. 00:02:47.610 --> 00:02:50.946 And while wind and solar production peak in the spring and summer, 00:02:50.946 --> 00:02:53.726 respectively, waves are more powerful and consistent in the winter. 00:02:53.726 --> 00:02:57.062 But the infrastructure required to scale up any of these systems and 00:02:57.062 --> 00:03:00.676 connect them to the power grid is complex and expensive. So if you're 00:03:00.676 --> 00:03:04.012 building, let's say, in a wave energy plant offshore, you're going to 00:03:04.012 --> 00:03:06.792 have to build your mooring and anchoring systems out offshore. 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:12.050 Cables will then go from your your wave and you convert it down to a 00:03:12.050 --> 00:03:15.950 subsea cable where you probably have a sort of a junction box where 00:03:15.950 --> 00:03:19.550 you might plug 102050 devices in with one larger export cable that 00:03:19.550 --> 00:03:23.750 will then run along the sea floor. But when it gets close to shore, 00:03:23.750 --> 00:03:27.650 you'll have to drill it under the seabed and under the surf zone 00:03:27.650 --> 00:03:31.250 because that's a very active environment, and then pop up in a 00:03:31.250 --> 00:03:34.250 location onshore pack wave. The Department of Energy funded wave 00:03:34.250 --> 00:03:37.550 energy test site off the Oregon Coast is building this infrastructure 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:41.034 now. It's a collaborative effort between the DOE, Oregon State 00:03:41.034 --> 00:03:43.968 University, the National Renewable Energy Lab, the European Marine 00:03:43.968 --> 00:03:47.554 Energy Center, and a host of other marine energy experts. The 00:03:47.554 --> 00:03:50.814 facility is fully pre permitted so companies can trial their 00:03:50.814 --> 00:03:53.748 prototypes without concern about regulatory delays. The Department of 00:03:53.748 --> 00:03:57.334 Energy is funded 8 different companies to start deploying a packway 00:03:57.334 --> 00:04:01.572 beginning in 2024 and we can't wait to have them inside. This is 00:04:01.572 --> 00:04:04.832 really a seismic shift in the way of energy community. 00:04:07.390 --> 00:04:12.556 In the US, the DOE has been funding marine energy for about a decade, 00:04:12.556 --> 00:04:16.615 a category which not only includes wave power, but also power 00:04:16.615 --> 00:04:19.936 generated from currents, tides and temperature changes. During that 00:04:19.936 --> 00:04:24.733 period of time, we've spent probably around $500 million or so on on 00:04:24.733 --> 00:04:29.530 marine energy, but this year we actually saw a record amount for our 00:04:29.530 --> 00:04:33.589 office pacifically for marine energy, $112 million in 2022, and this 00:04:33.589 --> 00:04:36.910 also includes an additional $110 million from the bipartisan. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:40.377 Infrastructure law and at the beginning of this year, the DOE 00:04:40.377 --> 00:04:43.140 announced $25 million in funding for eight wave energy 00:04:43.140 --> 00:04:45.903 projects, which will comprise the first round of technologies 00:04:45.903 --> 00:04:48.052 to be tested at the PACKWAY facility. 00:04:49.280 --> 00:04:52.710 After eight projects, Bay Area based Callwave received the largest 00:04:52.710 --> 00:04:56.483 amount $7.5 million. A small scale version of Cal Waves device 00:04:56.483 --> 00:04:59.913 recently returned after a successful 10 month deployment off the 00:04:59.913 --> 00:05:04.372 coast of San Diego. Yeah, the device we're testing at Parkway if will 00:05:04.372 --> 00:05:09.174 be a larger version of this, so nearly double the size and 10 times 00:05:09.174 --> 00:05:13.633 the amount of power. And so this unit specifically was able to power 00:05:13.633 --> 00:05:17.406 about 30 households. The X800, or MW class system produces enough 00:05:17.406 --> 00:05:19.121 power to power about 3000. 00:05:19.200 --> 00:05:23.347 Household so our our target is 20 year deployments at sea, and I 00:05:23.347 --> 00:05:25.899 think that's very achievable with maintenance interventions about 00:05:25.899 --> 00:05:29.727 every four to five years. However, Tech is classified as a submerged 00:05:29.727 --> 00:05:32.279 pressure differential device. It operates completely below the 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:36.426 surface of the water and as waves rise and fall, surge forward and 00:05:36.426 --> 00:05:40.254 backward, and the water moves in a circular motion, the device moves 00:05:40.254 --> 00:05:44.082 to dampers inside the device, slow down that motion and convert it 00:05:44.082 --> 00:05:47.272 into torque, which drives a generator to produce electricity. Lehman 00:05:47.272 --> 00:05:49.505 likens it to how electric cars recharge. 00:05:49.590 --> 00:05:52.950 And breaking as the electric car goes downhill and you put on 00:05:52.950 --> 00:05:56.310 the brake, it would produce power. And so the waves move the 00:05:56.310 --> 00:05:59.670 system up and down, and every time it moves down we can 00:05:59.670 --> 00:06:02.190 generate power. That oscillating motion we can turn into 00:06:02.190 --> 00:06:03.870 electricity just like a wind turbine. 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:08.856 Seattle based Oscilla Power was awarded 1.8 million from the DOE and 00:06:08.856 --> 00:06:12.552 it's getting ready to deploy its wave energy converter off the coast 00:06:12.552 --> 00:06:16.556 of Hawaii at the US Navy Wave energy test site. While this facility 00:06:16.556 --> 00:06:19.636 is smaller than the planned PACKWAY facility, it's currently the 00:06:19.636 --> 00:06:23.024 nation's only grid connected site for tech like this system that 00:06:23.024 --> 00:06:27.336 we're deploying in Hawaii is what we call the Triton C this is about 00:06:27.336 --> 00:06:31.340 1/3 of the size of our flagship product designed to be 100 kilowatt 00:06:31.340 --> 00:06:34.112 rated and it's designed for islands and small communities. 00:06:34.550 --> 00:06:37.839 Near and many others are excited by Wave Energy's potential to 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:40.829 generate electricity for remote regions, which rely on expensive and 00:06:40.829 --> 00:06:43.819 polluting diesel imports. To meet their energy needs, Oscilla power 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:47.706 uses a technology known as A2 body point absorber. Part of the Triton 00:06:47.706 --> 00:06:51.593 Sea floats on the surface and moves with the waves in all directions 00:06:51.593 --> 00:06:53.985 up and down, side to side and rotationally. 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.738 Underneath the float hangs a large ring shaped structure which stays 00:06:57.738 --> 00:07:00.796 relatively steady, thus generating force on the lines that connect it 00:07:00.796 --> 00:07:04.966 to the float. That force is then used to rotate a gearbox to drive a 00:07:04.966 --> 00:07:08.858 generator. So under very weak waves we get a lot of pits and roll 00:07:08.858 --> 00:07:12.750 motion in our system. At very strong waves we get a lot of search 00:07:12.750 --> 00:07:16.364 motion and the most prevalent wave climate we get a lot of heave 00:07:16.364 --> 00:07:19.700 motion that's up and down motion. So across all of these systems 00:07:19.700 --> 00:07:22.758 certainly moves enough for us to be able to capture energy 00:07:22.758 --> 00:07:24.704 efficiently across a wide range of climate. 00:07:25.260 --> 00:07:28.913 Oscilla power plans to deploy a larger MW scale device in India in 00:07:28.913 --> 00:07:31.723 2024 and then move on to testing a pack wave. 00:07:34.590 --> 00:07:38.451 The UAE also awarded Charlottesville, VA based company C power over 00:07:38.451 --> 00:07:42.663 $4 million to develop and test its grid scale wave energy converter, 00:07:42.663 --> 00:07:46.875 the Stingray, at pack wave. But before that testing takes place, the 00:07:46.875 --> 00:07:50.385 company is focused on commercializing its smaller scale system, the 00:07:50.385 --> 00:07:53.895 sea ray, designed for lower power applications. Think about sensors 00:07:53.895 --> 00:07:57.405 in the ocean research metocean data gathering. Maybe it's monitoring 00:07:57.405 --> 00:08:00.915 or inspection. The next step, Leisman says, is powering ocean 00:08:00.915 --> 00:08:04.425 robotics and operating equipment. And then you think about diesel. 00:08:04.550 --> 00:08:09.009 Been set replacement for island power. Then we start to work our way 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:12.096 towards charging networks for autonomous surface vessels and then 00:08:12.096 --> 00:08:15.526 eventually to terrestrial to to grid applications. The sea ray 00:08:15.526 --> 00:08:19.985 consists of two floats in a central body than a cell which contains 00:08:19.985 --> 00:08:24.444 the drivetrain. As Waves pass by the floats Bob up and down rotating 00:08:24.444 --> 00:08:28.217 about in a cell and turning their own respective gearboxes which 00:08:28.217 --> 00:08:32.333 power the electric generators. We have a sea ray that will be 00:08:32.333 --> 00:08:34.391 deployed off the coast of Hawaii. 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:38.977 This fall, and that's a two kilowatt version. We've got a number of 00:08:38.977 --> 00:08:43.723 customers that are involved with us. Saab is one is one of the global 00:08:43.723 --> 00:08:47.113 leaders from subsea robotics perspective. Bio Sonics is another with 00:08:47.113 --> 00:08:48.808 a static data gathering system. 00:08:49.530 --> 00:08:53.314 After these initial applications, Cpower will work on scaling up its 00:08:53.314 --> 00:08:56.410 Cray so that it's compatible with satellite communications and 00:08:56.410 --> 00:08:59.850 deepwater deployments before building a 200 kilowatt Stingray to test 00:08:59.850 --> 00:09:00.882 it pack wave. 00:09:03.380 --> 00:09:07.631 The European Marine Energy Center or EMAC was the first Test site in 00:09:07.631 --> 00:09:11.555 the world for wave and tidal technologies when it opened in 2003. 00:09:11.555 --> 00:09:15.479 We've had something like 35 different devices in the water from 22 00:09:15.479 --> 00:09:18.749 different companies from I think 11 different countries. Some of 00:09:18.749 --> 00:09:22.019 those include finished company melloy which produce power for the 00:09:22.019 --> 00:09:25.616 grid and Scotland during its two deployments at Emec and has 00:09:25.616 --> 00:09:28.559 subsequently been deployed in Spain, and Scottish company Palamas 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:31.829 which became the first offshore wave energy converter to produce 00:09:31.829 --> 00:09:33.464 power for our National Grid. 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:37.961 2004 it was also the first to be purchased by a utility company, 00:09:37.961 --> 00:09:40.994 though financial troubles ultimately forced the company to cease 00:09:40.994 --> 00:09:45.205 operations. Well, Emec has seen its share of successes and 00:09:45.205 --> 00:09:48.455 disappointments. No company has yet commercialized a grid scale wave 00:09:48.455 --> 00:09:52.355 energy converter, so Kermode is more than happy to see more players 00:09:52.355 --> 00:09:55.930 and more testing facilities popping up. We firmly believe that this 00:09:55.930 --> 00:09:59.830 is an international endeavor and we're not going to win this just 00:09:59.830 --> 00:10:03.405 because some people on the small Scottish island managed to crack 00:10:03.405 --> 00:10:06.980 this. This will be dealt with because the the scientific and 00:10:06.980 --> 00:10:10.880 technical community has really put its shoulder to this and found a 00:10:10.880 --> 00:10:12.505 way to make it work. 00:10:13.430 --> 00:10:17.170 But while pack, wave and Emec are focusing on testing offshore 00:10:17.170 --> 00:10:21.250 devices, one Swedish company, Eco Wave Power, thinks it will be quite 00:10:21.250 --> 00:10:24.650 a while before these complex devices can reliably produce power. 00:10:24.650 --> 00:10:28.390 Would like to see more companies focusing on easier projects. That 00:10:28.390 --> 00:10:31.790 will give the population, the investors, the government, the safety 00:10:31.790 --> 00:10:36.550 to say, OK, now it's safe to legislate, now it's safe to invest, now 00:10:36.550 --> 00:10:41.310 it's safe to to believe in wave energy. That's why Eco wave power is 00:10:41.310 --> 00:10:43.010 installing onshore devices on breakwaters. 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:47.133 Piers and jetties. The only thing in our technology that is in the 00:10:47.133 --> 00:10:50.865 water are the floaters which belong in the water. All the expensive 00:10:50.865 --> 00:10:54.286 conversion machinery is on land, just like a regular power station. 00:10:54.286 --> 00:10:57.396 So basically this enables a very low installation operation and 00:10:57.396 --> 00:11:01.439 maintenance cost. As a floater moves up and down with the motion of 00:11:01.439 --> 00:11:04.860 the waves, it drives a hydraulic piston which compresses fluid that's 00:11:04.860 --> 00:11:08.903 then stored in an accumulator. When the fluid is released, it turns a 00:11:08.903 --> 00:11:11.080 hydraulic motor which powers an electric generator. 00:11:11.920 --> 00:11:15.140 While nearshore and onshore waves aren't as powerful as offshore 00:11:15.140 --> 00:11:18.360 waves, Braverman says that current technologies aren't able to fully 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:21.580 take advantage of that extra energy potential, meaning the energy 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:25.122 produced from her company's floaters is on par with the offshore 00:11:25.122 --> 00:11:28.664 competition. Eco Wave power produced power for the grid in Gibraltar 00:11:28.664 --> 00:11:32.528 for six years, powering around 100 homes with its 100 kilowatt system 00:11:32.528 --> 00:11:34.138 when operating at peak efficiency. 00:11:34.810 --> 00:11:37.672 The company is finalizing another 100 kilowatt grid connected 00:11:37.672 --> 00:11:41.170 station in Israel and has signed an agreement to install its 00:11:41.170 --> 00:11:44.668 devices at the Port of Los Angeles, starting with a 100 00:11:44.668 --> 00:11:47.530 kilowatt installation and hoping to scale to 15 megawatts, 00:11:47.530 --> 00:11:49.438 which could power about 15,000 homes. 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:56.484 There are still many unknowns when it comes to wave energy tech, 00:11:56.484 --> 00:11:59.804 including whether costs can fall enough to become competitive with 00:11:59.804 --> 00:12:03.788 fossil fuels. In order for marine energy to be competitive, we need 00:12:03.788 --> 00:12:08.436 to be at cost parity with solar and wind or offshore wind. So really 00:12:08.436 --> 00:12:13.084 driving at that. Less than six cents a kWh. But that's a long way 00:12:13.084 --> 00:12:17.068 away. The projections for the levelized cost of energy for the wave 00:12:17.068 --> 00:12:21.384 energy devices are, you know, 60 cents $0.80 a dollar per kWh wave 00:12:21.384 --> 00:12:25.062 energy is really. Struggle to get solid deployment at the moment, 00:12:25.062 --> 00:12:28.516 mainly to be brutally honest, because hydrocarbons have been so cheap 00:12:28.516 --> 00:12:32.284 and while there are ongoing efforts by the DOE and the companies 00:12:32.284 --> 00:12:35.424 themselves to monitor the impact of their devices on marine 00:12:35.424 --> 00:12:39.506 ecosystems, it will take time to get a full picture of the impact. 00:12:39.506 --> 00:12:44.216 Really, this is going to have to be something that we learn as we put 00:12:44.216 --> 00:12:47.356 systems into the water. But we're funding, you know, environmental 00:12:47.356 --> 00:12:50.182 monitoring, funding work to really understand the interaction of 00:12:50.182 --> 00:12:53.322 species with deployed systems, and we take this very seriously. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:56.156 Questions about potential environmental impacts could delay the 00:12:56.156 --> 00:12:59.376 permitting process as companies move beyond testing and attempt to 00:12:59.376 --> 00:13:03.789 commercialize. One thing that could make permanent easier though, is 00:13:03.789 --> 00:13:07.128 if there's convergence around a particular design principle. There 00:13:07.128 --> 00:13:09.725 are different applications that require somewhat different 00:13:09.725 --> 00:13:14.177 approaches, but I think for the mainstream you will see some form 00:13:14.177 --> 00:13:17.887 factor convergence. Right now though, it's far from clear what 00:13:17.887 --> 00:13:21.597 technology will rise to the top for grid scale electricity 00:13:21.597 --> 00:13:25.678 generation. But in the meantime, experts say that there are many 00:13:25.678 --> 00:13:28.646 exciting low power opportunities, data gathering, subsea robotics, 00:13:28.646 --> 00:13:30.130 operating equipment that's today. 00:13:30.390 --> 00:13:34.842 It's ready to go today. Next many point to places in the Arctic like 00:13:34.842 --> 00:13:38.340 Kodiak Island in Alaska as potential early adopters of the tech, 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:42.156 since there's so little solar power there in the winter and the 00:13:42.156 --> 00:13:45.018 community relies on expensive diesel generators for power. Estimates 00:13:45.018 --> 00:13:49.152 vary for how long it will take before we see wave farms providing 00:13:49.152 --> 00:13:53.286 power to the mainland, but most agree that it won't be this decade. 00:13:53.286 --> 00:13:58.374 So we have a goal of setting about one GW of power by 2035, and we 00:13:58.374 --> 00:14:01.236 really see that as the first opportunity for wave. 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:05.004 Energy to come online to serve the nation's grid scale up will 00:14:05.004 --> 00:14:08.074 largely depend upon continued government support in the US and 00:14:08.074 --> 00:14:11.144 abroad. The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which 00:14:11.144 --> 00:14:14.214 includes $369 billion earmarked for clean energy and climate change 00:14:14.214 --> 00:14:17.284 mitigation, has many optimistic. But Kermode says that globally we 00:14:17.284 --> 00:14:20.968 need to be even more aggressive about getting these devices in the 00:14:20.968 --> 00:14:25.266 water. It does take time to do this. Question is, do we have time? 00:14:25.266 --> 00:14:30.178 And so do we need to get at this harder than we are at the moment? 00:14:30.178 --> 00:14:31.406 And I would suggest. 00:14:31.610 --> 00:14:35.588 We really, really do need to be quite aggressive in what we're doing 00:14:35.588 --> 00:14:36.812 and really push hard.