US community-centric wave energy project secures $3.6M backing

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $3.6 million in funding to a project that aims to determine the best way to harvest wave energy for coastal communities at Beaver Island, Michigan, and Nags Head, North Carolina, in the U.S.

The University of Michigan-led project aims to provide renewable energy solutions tailored to the specific needs of the coastal communities while considering the socio-economic and environmental factors that come with wave energy development. 

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wave energy has the potential to power 130 million U.S. homes, meeting 35% of the country’s electricity demand without producing direct greenhouse gas emissions. 

“Everybody knows what a wind turbine looks like because the research community has rallied behind a single idea,” said Jeff Scruggs, U-M Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Project’s Co-Principal Investigator. 

“For wave energy converters, that’s not the case. When you look at the devices that companies are deploying for their trials, they are nothing like each other. Everybody’s got their own idea about the best way to harvest wave energy.”

Companies and laboratories have been experimenting with various wave energy concepts, ranging from bobbing buoys to submersible devices, hinged rafts, and paddles. Each design comes with trade-offs, whether in terms of energy efficiency, resilience to storms, or environmental impacts, and no clear industry guidelines currently dictate which trade-offs are acceptable or economically viable.

Lei Zuo, Herbert C. Sadler Collegiate Professor of Engineering at U-M and the Project’s Lead Principal Investigator, commented: “We need to develop a method to holistically assess wave energy devices, and that’s something that can’t be done by one person with one area of expertise working individually.”

To ensure the project’s success, the team will involve community input from the very beginning. At Beaver Island, the University of Michigan noted that wave energy could enhance energy security, reducing dependence on costly diesel backup generators. In Nags Head, the technology could serve as an emergency power source during hurricanes or aid in desalination when freshwater supplies are compromised.

“As researchers, we often think that communities are only recipients of our research. But coastal communities often know more about what is happening locally on the coast and about what is likely to work for their communities,” said Eric Wade, Assistant Professor of Coastal Studies at East Carolina University.

Additional research team members include experts from Virginia Tech, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the Beaver Island Association, and Blue Water Network, among others.

In July, the Graham Sustainability Institute at the University of Michigan launched a feasibility study off the coast of Beaver Island as part of the “Catching the Waves” project. The study will assess wave energy resources, environmental impact, and community preferences to determine the best site for renewable energy generation. 

Also, the University of Michigan recently unveiled the establishment of the Center for Growing Ocean Energy Technologies and the Blue Economy (GO Blue), an initiative that enjoys the backing of three universities and is funded by the NSF under the Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program.