CalWave has signed a Power Purchase Agreement between Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and PacWave, administered by Oregon State University (OSU) to advance wave energy in the U.S.
This will be the first time CalWave provides power to customers on the U.S. main grid, marking its transition from R&D to commercial operations. The five-year agreement will cover up to 20 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity per hour from OSU. Since PacWave is a wave energy test site, it will not always operate at its full rated capacity (20 megawatts).
CalWave said its open-ocean deployment offshore San Diego from September 2021 to July 2022 exceeded expectations by operating 67% longer than planned with zero downtime and zero decline in performance. But that generated power was exported to a local microgrid at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This will be the first time it will go directly to the grid.
CalWave said this PPA signals commercial demand for wave energy that advances the industry toward “bankability” and attractiveness for private sector investors, EPCs, and energy offtakers.
