Winter 2024 25 INFOGRAPHIC BY OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY GREEN ENERGY ↑ The first U.S. testing facility at this scale, PacWave will let researchers test 20 wave energy devices’ performance at once. HARNESSING THE OCEAN’S POWER OSU WAVE ENERGY TESTING FACILITY TAKES SHAPE OFF THE OREGON COAST. By Michelle Klampe Oregon State University’s long anticipated wave energy testing facility has started to take shape. This August, crews began preparations to lay power and data cables for PacWave South, the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States. Workers aboard a 265-foot vessel, the Seacor Lee, anchored about a mile from Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site south of Newport. Additional crews at the recreation site inspected and prepared cable conduits for next summer’s installation of power and data cables. The ocean test site will be on a sandy-bottomed stretch of the Pacific Ocean about 7 miles off the coast of Newport that’s away from popular commercial and recreational fishing reefs. The site will have four test berths, which combined can accommodate as many as 20 wave energy devices at any one time. Power and data cables buried below the seafloor will connect the ocean test site to a shoreside facility in Seal Rock, south of Newport. When completed, PacWave will offer wave energy developers the opportunity to try different technologies for harnessing the power of ocean waves and transmitting that energy to a local electrical grid. There currently is no U.S. facility for developers to measure the electrical and environmental performance of their devices at this scale. PacWave South is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Oregon and other public and private entities. OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences is managing the construction and operation of the more than $80 million facility. Cables bring power to shore and connect to utilities Buried cable back to shore Electrical and controls Office space and visitor’s center Devices will be 6 nautical miles (6.9 miles) from shore Research vessel Operations and storage Research device Sub sea pod
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