PUC NIxes Wave Energy Deal

Last week the PUC denied a proposed deal between PG&E and Canadian Wave Energy Company Finavera. The deal was for 2 MW of power to be supplied by a wave energy farm 2 miles off the coast of Northern California near Eureka.

According to Greentech Media:

"The commission denied PG&E's request to approve the power-purchase agreement last week, saying the wave energy project is not viable. The technology is too new and unproven, and the power purchase prices agreed by PG&E are too high, the commission said..."

The technology, which didn't fare so well in a trial last year when it sunk on the first day, "uses a series of buoys with pumps to take in water and convert the vertical motion of the waves into pressurized seawater, which then drives a piston that runs the seawater through a turbine for power generation."

Undeterred, PG&E has said it will continue to pursue wave energy as part of its portfolio of renewable energy sources.

California Sinks Its First Wave Energy Project [Greentechmedia.com]