‘World-first electricity grid-scale wave energy device’ hits the water off Hawaii

July 26, 2024, by Nadja Skopljak

Marine hydrokinetics pioneer Ocean Energy USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ocean Energy Group Ireland, has deployed what is said to be the world’s first electricity grid-scale wave energy device at the U.S. Navy’s test site in Hawaii.

The 826-ton wave energy convertor buoy, the OE-35, was deployed at the U.S. Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) on the windward coast of the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, and will, after commissioning and testing onsite, be connected to the Hawaiian electricity grid by subsea cable in the coming weeks.

The utility-scale wave energy device measures 125 x 59 feet, has a draft of over 30 feet, and a potential rated capacity of up to 1.25 MW in electrical power production.

It is located north of Mōkapu Peninsula, at the WETS site in Kaneohe Bay, having been towed there from Honolulu on July 19.

The $12 million project is part‐funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), under an agreement committing the U.S. and Irish governments to collaborate on marine hydrokinetic technologies.

“Following over a decade and a half of design, trials, testing and building, we are excited finally to be able to take this major step towards commercialization with our world-class OE-35 device,” said Professor Tony Lewis, Ocean Energy’s Chief Technology Officer. “This internationally significant project couldn’t come online at a more critical time for the US and Ireland as the World needs to accelerate the pace of decarbonization with new and innovative technologies.”