2007/7/12

Ucluelet News. Westcoaster.ca

A computer model displays a cross section of the wave energy converter proposed for the coastal waters near Ucluelet. Finavera Renewables Inc. is pursuing the permit to build the device.

Click here to view a video animation of the proposed wave energy converter. Click here to view more photos of the wave energy production. (Photo courtesy of Finavera Renewables Inc.)

By Troy Watts

For many, the rolling waves of the ocean are a source of wonder, recreation or nourishment, but for a Vancouver based company they are potentially a source of clean limitless energy.
Finavera Renewables Inc. is in the process of assessing the Provincial and Federal permits required to build wave powered electrical generators off the coast of Ucluelet.
Myke Clark, media liaison for Finavera, said the wave energy power plant will be a great source of power for the community and be environmentally friendly.
“It is a 100 per cent renewable source of energy with little to no impact on the environment,” he said.

A wave energy converter would be used, which is a device that is designed to convert the kinetic energy of the vertical motion of oncoming waves to power a turbine engine driving an electrical generator. Electricity would be transmitted to shore by means of a secure undersea transmission line.
The Finavera website states that the potential size for the Ucluelet facility is 5 megawatts, which is enough electricity to power 1,200 to 1,500 homes.
However, because it is relatively untested technology the real generators output cannot be accurately assessed, said Clark.
“Right now the technology is at such an early stage in the process we don’t actually know how it will work. We are trying to get the permits at the same time we are developing the technology.”
Getting the permits to build the generators has been a long and difficult process, said Clark.

“The permitting process is not set in stone, it’s never been done before, and there are a lot of different people that have to be satisfied. And because everything is so new we have to make it up as we go along.”

Before getting the permits Finavera has to discuss the potential affects of the project with the community of Ucluelet and First Nations.
Finavera has a half scale model being launched in Oregon this summer and a pilot project in Washington D.C. in 2009.
Ucluelet will have to wait until the U.S. projects are completed before it will see any construction off its coast, said Clark.
“I’d expect that it will be sometime after 2009, unless there are some major changes in attitudes toward the technology