PG&E's WaveConnect™ wave energy power pilot project: Engineering aspects

Wave energy is perhaps the "youngest" of the major alternative energy systems currently being developed, even though the thought of using the raw power of the waves has attracted man for centuries. Initial developments of wave energy began in the 1970s in Scotland, with Stephen Salter and his Salter Duck. For Salter and others, a major issue in these early developments was survivability in extreme wave conditions. Several decades have now passed and new marine engineering knowledge on ocean survivability and technology has made its way into this new field. There are now multiple manufacturers of Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) systems who are working to gain market access and to get to sea trials. Most of the work has occurred in the last thirty years in Europe, with only a few sporadic efforts occurring in the United States. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), the largest supplier of renewable energy and the utility with the most wave energy resource in its service territory in the United States, is in the planning phase for the development of WaveConnect, a wave energy pilot project to demonstrate the long-term viability of harnessing ocean wave energy for electricity generation on a commercial scale. This paper describes the genesis of the WaveConnect Demonstration Project, and identifies engineering challenges for the project.