Irish wave energy pioneer deploys grid-scale device at US Navy Test site in Hawaii

Marine hydrokinetics pioneer, Ocean Energy USA LLC (part of Ocean Energy Group Ireland – https://oceanenergy.ie/ ), announced that it has successfully deployed its 826-ton wave energy convertor buoy, the OE-35, at the US Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) on the windward coast of the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. After commissioning and testing onsite, the device will be connected to the Hawaiian electricity grid by subsea cable in the coming weeks.

The utility-scale wave energy device measures 125 x 59 feet, has a draft of over 30 feet, and a potential rated capacity of up to 1.25 megawatts in electrical power production. It is located north of Mōkapu Peninsula, at the WETS site in Kaneohe Bay, having been towed there from Honolulu on Friday, July 19. The US$12million project is part-funded by the US Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), under an agreement committing the US and Irish governments to collaborating on marine hydrokinetic technologies.

“Following over a decade and a half of design, trials, testing and building, we are excited finally to be able to take this major step towards commercialization with our world-class OE-35 device,” said Professor Tony Lewis, Ocean Energy’s Chief Technology Officer. “This internationally significant project couldn’t come online at a more critical time for the US and Ireland as the World needs to accelerate the pace of decarbonization with new and innovative technologies.”