Cable installation on schedule at first US full-scale wave energy test site

July 15, 2024, by Nadja Skopljak

Cable installation for what is the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the U.S. is scheduled to commence later this month.

The cables will support Oregon State University’s PacWave South facility, which when completed will allow wave energy developers to test different technologies for harnessing the power of ocean waves and transmitting that energy to the local electrical grid.

The work includes installing four power and data cables ranging in length from about 10 to 13 continuous miles from a vault under the parking lot of Driftwood Beach State Park south of Newport out to the test site offshore.

Louisiana-based subsea cable services contractor R.T. Casey will oversee the installation, with the work to be carried out by crews aboard three vessels, expected to take six to seven weeks.

French Nexans manufactured the subsea cables in Norway, which were transported via freighter to Louisiana and transferred to the offshore support vessel (OSV) HOS Innovator, which will be used to lay the cables.

Once the work begins, OSV Nautilus will follow behind to bury the cable using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). A third vessel, named Liberty, will support diving operations during the cable installation and provide other assistance.

The first wave energy developer is expected at PacWave South in 2025 and the first cable-connected test in 2026.

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The ocean test site will have four test berths, which combined can accommodate up to 20 wave energy devices at any one time.

PacWave South is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the state of Oregon and other public and private entities. Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences is managing the construction and operation of the more than $100 million facility.

“Transmitting power from wave-energy generators to shore in a form compatible with the regional power grid is a huge challenge, and cabled connection from PacWave South provides the capability to test power-delivery technologies,” said Burke Hales, PacWave’s chief scientist and a professor in the OSU College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. “These cables are highly specialized and their installation and burial is a keystone of wave energy development in the U.S.”