Wave power in the United States is under development in several locations off the east and west coasts as well as Hawaii. It has moved beyond the research phase and is producing reliable energy for the Grid. Its use to-date has been for situations where other forms of energy production are not economically viable and as such, the power output is currently modest. But major installations are planned to come on-line within the next few years.

Projects

San Diego, California

CalWave Power Technologies, Inc. successfully commissioned its CalWave x1™ on September 16, 2021, off the coast of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. This event marks the beginning of California’s first at-sea, long-duration wave energy pilot operating fully submerged. The CalWave x1™ will be tested for six months with the goal of validating the performance and reliability of the system in open ocean. This project is supported by a

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

award with the goal to demonstrate CalWave’s scalable and patented xWave™ technology. Several key partners collaborated with CalWave on this project including the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

, the

National Renewable Energy Laboratory The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and d ...

Sandia National Laboratories Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Ba ...

DNV DNV (formerly DNV GL) is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The company currently has about 12,000 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides ser ...

GL, and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

LEAP Autonomous PowerBuoy, New Jersey

Ocean Power Technologies Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is a U.S. publicly owned renewable energy company, providing electric power and communications solutions, services and related for remote offshore applications. The company's PowerBuoy wave energy conversion technolo ...

has successfully operated a system off New Jersey, designed and manufactured by Ocean Power Technologies, under the US Navy's Littoral Expeditionary Autonomous PowerBuoy (LEAP) program for coastal security and maritime surveillance.

Coos Bay, Oregon

Ocean Power Technologies has proposed a utility-scale, commercial wave park in North America at

Coos Bay, Oregon Coos Bay ( Coos language: Atsixiis) is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one en ...

. The planned size of this park is up to 100 megawatts, and it will be the largest wave energy project in the world when completed.

Reedsport, Oregon

Ocean Power Technologies is developing a commercial wave park on the west coast of the United States located 2.5 miles offshore near

Reedsport, Oregon Reedsport is a city in Douglas County, Oregon, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,310. History Reedsport was established on the estuary of the Umpqua River on January 7, 1852. It was named for a local settler, Alfred ...

. The first phase of this project is for ten power generation systems (buoys), or 1.5 megawatts.

Oahu, Hawaii

From 2009 to 2011, Ocean Power Technologies ocean-tested its wave power generation system at the US Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) at

Kaneohe Bay Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and located in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an a ...

. The Oahu system was launched under the Company's program with the US Navy for ocean testing and demonstration of such systems, including connection to the Oahu grid.

Atlantic City, New Jersey

The principles demonstrated with the earlier prototype power generation buoys deployed and tested off the coast of

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

were integrated into the designs of the power generation buoys for Hawaii and Spain.

Research

The

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

announced a $22 million grant to fund wave energy research by private companies and universities in January 2022. Academic institutions conducting wave energy research include Portland State University, the University of Washington, and the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University.

References

{{Energy in the United States Renewable energy in the United States

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...