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California has only two
areas offshore that meet the Company's criteria for suitable
offshore wind/wave energy development: Between San Francisco
and the Farallon Islands, and between Ventura and the Channel
Islands. The rest of the coast is quite deep near shore and
turbines that could be installed would be very visible and prominent
from shore. A Stanford University study has concluded that
"Between 63% and 86% of CA's electricity needs could be provided
with offshore wind energy alone."
The
Ventura site is located in an area where there are offshore oil
production platforms. These platforms demonstrably do not have
negatively
affect marine life, in fact they are popular fishing spots as they
have become artificial reefs. The Ventura site has lower wind
and wave energy that the San Francisco site. However it is
close to the Los Angeles power market.
Ventura Site
P-13309
(click to download FERC application)
UPDATE April 9, 2009:
FERC and MMS
agree to rule
changes that suspend the FERC preliminary permit system for OCS wave
power projects. The Company's application has been dismissed. But our existing preliminary permit
in Washington state is not affected by this decision. We will
continue our business in the other sites using the new permit
system. The Company's plans for these sites are not affected
by the change in the FERC preliminary permit system.
Site
Coordinates
-
NW 34° 15’
N 119° 27’ W
-
NE 34°
15’ N 119° 22’ W
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SW 34°
11’ N 119° 27’ W
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SE 34°
11’ N 119° 22’ W
The
California Energy Commission has been evaluating ocean energy
and in Sept 2008 gave a public
presentation (pdf download) about its findings.
Stanford University professors have published a study about
offshore wind potential in California -
presentation and
paper
The
Electric Power Research Institute has published several reports
on wave energy development for San Francisco on the
Wave Energy section of their site:
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System-Level Design, Performance, and
Cost – San Francisco California Energetech Offshore Wave Power
Plant
-
System-Level Design, Performance, and
Cost – San Francisco California Pelamis Offshore Wave Power
Plant
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California Wave Power Demonstration
Project: Bridging the Gap Between the Completed Phase 1 Project
Definition Study and the Next Phase – Phase 2 Detailed Design
and Permitting
The governor of California is party to the
West Coast
Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health. This action plan
specifically and cautiously addresses ocean renewable energy
development. Presentations about ocean energy development on
the West Coast are
available. |
