Hydro and Marine Energy

States Take Steps to Expedite Hydrokinetic Project Reviews

Hydro power By Daron Threet & Larry Eisenstat

On April 28th, 2010, the federal government approved the Cape Wind project after nine years of regulatory review. The significance of the Cape Wind approval cannot be overstated, as the project is now poised to become the first large-scale offshore renewable energy project operating in the United States (www.capewind.org). But, from a project planning, permitting, and development perspective, the exceedingly drawn-out, almost decade-long review of Cape Wind was simply too long, too uncertain, and too costly for most developers and investors to endure. Simply put: unless meaningful steps are taken to streamline review processes of offshore renewable projects, the regulatory risk going forward may be too high to support widespread growth in the industry.

This regulatory risk is perhaps even more evident for hydrokinetic projects (e.g., wave and tidal), which trail behind offshore wind from a technology perspective. Unlike offshore wind, the hydrokinetic industry does not have arrays of utility scale facilities like those found in Europe and elsewhere to provide, at the very least, a foundational understanding of the operational, environmental, and other impacts of these technologies to support the regulatory review and approval of new projects.

Many hydropower developers are eyeing non-powered dams as an option for adding generation. In the United States, only a small percentage of dams are used to generate electricity, leaving much potential in adding hydro generation to existing non-hydro dams. The number of proposals to build new hydropower capacity in the US is up about 30% from two years ago, federal regulatory officials reported. Many of such proposals are at existing federal dams.

It has been estimated that, of the 82,000 US dams, only 3% are used to generate electricity. Currently, it takes about five years to obtain a license to install hydro capacity at existing non-powered dams. The National Hydropower Association has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to cut the licensing process down to two years by establishing a more efficient system.

National Hydropower Association
www.hydro.org

Aquamarine Power Unveils Oyster 2 Design

Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power recently unveiled the design of its Oyster 2 wave energy convertor, which will be built in Scotland this summer. The new 800kW device will measure 26 metres by 16 metres and will deliver 250% more power than the original Oyster 1, which was successfully deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney last summer. The new device incorporates design improvements on Oyster 1, enabling it to produce more energy, be simpler to install, and easier to maintain.

The company will begin deployment of three Oyster 2s at EMEC in summer 2011. All three devices will be linked to a single onshore 2.4 MW hydro-electric turbine. A small farm of 20 Oyster 2 devices would provide enough energy for more than 12,000 homes.