Finavera wave energy project gets preliminary FERC nod

Canada's Finavera Renewables (TSX-V: FVR) today announced it has received a key permit for its proposed 100MW Oregon wave energy project.

The permit approval was granted by the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or "FERC". The permit allows Finavera to conduct various studies associated with the project.

The permit is significant, as wave and tidal power developers have found it difficult to work with FERC to get approval for American installations.

"The regulatory process in the U.S. is designed for existing technologies. If you have new technologies, it stymies regulatory processes. And so already underworked, understaffed resource agencies like FERC would just as soon as have these new technologies go away," noted Trey Taylor, co-founder and president of tidal power developer Verdant Energy to the Cleantech Group.

Verdant has been working with FERC for years on permits for its own water power initiatives.

Indeed, outdated regulations are what's holding the industry back in the U.S., says Roger Bedard, leader of ocean energy research at EPRI, the electric power research institute, in Palo Alto.

"The regulatory process being applied today was designed over a half century ago for conventional hydroelectric plants and is not suited for the characteristics of today’s wave and tidal in-stream energy conversion technology. Because extensive regulation applies to even small pilot projects whose purpose is to investigate the interactions between the energy conversion devices and the environment in which they operate, the regulations are lengthening the time for experimental projects to get off-the-ground and into the water."

"Developers cannot gather data on potential impacts through installation and operation of a short-term pilot demonstration project without going through the same license process that applies to 30 to 50 year licenses for major conventional impoundment or dam-type hydro projects," noted Bedard.

FERC will occasionally waive the requirement for a license for a small, experimental, short term pilot plant as long as the developer does not realize revenue for the electricity that is generated and pays the local utility for the electricity that they do not generate; a condition which many developers find unacceptable.

Finavera's proposed Coos County project would use interconnected clusters of the company's patented AquaBuOY wave energy devices. The project would have a generating capacity of 100MW, and total annual generation from the project is estimated to be approximately 175 gigawatt-hours per-year, sufficient electricity to power approximately 15,000 homes.

Finavera developing a new generation of its patented AquaBuOY technology, and plans to deploy a new test device this summer off the coast of Newport, Oregon.

The offshore portion of the project would be located in the Pacific Ocean west of Coos County, Oregon, just north of the Curry County/Coos County boundary, and southwest of the City of Bandon.

The preliminary permit issued by FERC to Finavera covers an offshore project study area of approximately 5.5 square miles, with dimensions of 1.6 miles predominantly in the east-west direction and 3.4 miles predominantly in the north-south direction.

A large number of studies have been requested by FERC, including oceanographic conditions, marine biological resources, marine mammal resources, commercial and recreational activities, noise, public safety, visual impacts, and fishing, crabbing and other marine uses.

Once the surveys are completed, and after consultation with local stakeholders, the company is to 'micro-site' the project within the proposed project area. The final installed offshore wave energy plant is expected to occupy an offshore project area between 2 and 3 square miles.

In February of 2006, FERC granted a preliminary permit to Ocean Power Technology (OPT) for its pending Reedsport, Oregon Wave Energy Park. In February of this year, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) submitted applications for wave plant preliminary permits to FERC for two sites in Northern California.

Approximately 30 preliminary permit applications for tidal plants have been filed by private investors with FERC.

Finavera is developing assets in the wind and wave energy sectors. The company is developing wave energy projects for AquaBuOYs in the United States, Portugal, South Africa and Canada. The company is also developing wind energy projects in Canada and Ireland.