First Wave-Generated Power Plant Gets Backing

Pacific Gas & Electric plans to buy what could be the nation's first commercial wave power plant once built off the coast of Northern California, with plans to begin selling power generated by the "wave park" in 2012, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The technology employs bobbing buoys that generate power with internal turbines as they rise and fall with the waves, and the electricity is carried ashore via underwater cables. It is well-tested in the lab, but unproven in the open ocean and at a commercial scale. For that reason, it may have unforeseen negative effects on migrating whales or the environment.

Still, wave power holds the promise of providing another renewable energy source, along with wind, hydro, solar and solar thermal, as California leads the nation toward a low-carbon energy future. The power generated would be tiny, according to the Chronicle, enough only to power 1,500 homes (a typical fossil fuel-fired power plant might generate 1,000 times as much).

One of the reasons California is pushing ahead with this initiative is that utilities in the state are required to generate a portion of electricity from renewable sources. A similar national requirement – rejected by the Senate – might have spurred similar breakthrough innovations in the Southeast, particularly, where coal is the undisputed king of fuels.

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