Finavera gets federal approval for Wash. wave power

Vancouver, British Columbia's Finavera Renewables released its second round of good news this week, announcing today that it received federal approval for a Washington state wave power project.

The license issued by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the first ever handed out by the commission for a wave, tidal or current energy project in the country.

"This is a tremendous step forward for the development of wave energy in the United States and illustrates our leadership in this exciting industry," said Jason Bak, Finavera CEO.

The Makah Bay Offshore Wave Pilot Project will consist of four 250 kilowatt wave energy conversion buoys and an associated mooring-anchoring and electrical connection system.

On Tuesday, the company announced another first, with San Francisco's Pacific Gas & Electric signing the nation's first commercial wave energy power purchase agreement with Finavera (see PG&E to ride the waves with Finavera).

The 2 megawatt Humboldt County Offshore Wave Energy Power Plant, to be located off the coast of Northern California, is expected to begin delivering renewable power to Pacific Gas & Electric in 2012.

For the Washington project, the decision by the FERC gives Finavera a five-year license for the wave power system, conditional on the company obtaining all additional federal and state permits before construction can begin.

Under the terms of the license, Finavera needs to start on-site construction of the project within two years from the date of the license and complete construction within three years.

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