Legislators urge Oregon to provide $4.6M for wave test center

 
Oregon legislators are asking the state to provide $4.6 million for the construction of the PMEC wave energy test center.

In a legislation composed by a bipartisan group of legislators, funding support is being sought for the construction of the Pacific Marine Energy Center South Energy Test Site (PMEC-SETS) which was recently backed by $40 million provided by the US Department of Energy.

The construction of the PMEC-SETS would cost approximately $50 million, and the funding requested would be a part of the matching funds Oregon State University, whose Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) was granted federal funding for the construction of the center, needs to find for the project, according to Portland Business Journal.

PMEC has already received funding support in the amount of $800,000 from Oregon last year.

Belinda Batten, Executive Director of NNMREC, said the center was exploring different sources for funding, including state and private, to meet the project costs, Portland Business Journal reports.

The $40 million provided by the US Department of Energy, still subject to appropriations, gave a great boost towards the construction of the wave energy test center off Oregon that would feature four grid-connected berths where researchers can test full-scale wave energy device concepts.

PMEC-SETS is planned to be operational by 2020.