Now Staking Claims To Wave Energy
Plans afoot to harness the sea for electricity
 The East Hampton Star
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(12/11/2008) Three plans to produce large amounts of electric power by harnessing the tides and waves around Long Island were recently submitted to the federal government for approval.
Two companies have applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with the aim of placing marine generators off Shelter Island, in the ocean in an area from Jones Beach to Montauk, and in a third region south of Block Island.
The Shelter Island Tidal Energy Project would be relatively modest in scale and would use tidal currents instead of wave energy to turn turbines.
In the second plan, however, about 100 turbines would be placed in an area approximately 14 miles off Jones Beach to Montauk, according to preliminary details now before the Energy Regulatory Commission.
A similar installation has been proposed for a 96-square-mile region near Block Island, about 12 miles southeast of Montauk Point.
The projects offshore of Long Island and Block Island have been proposed by the Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company of Seattle, which is seeking permits to harness wave energy off the coasts of six states: California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York.
All together, the $28 billion Grays Harbor projects would represent the largest renewable energy system in the country. Each location would initially encompass about 100 square miles of ocean. The spots for the platforms that support the generating equipment were not pinpointed within the 100-square-mile study areas.
The generating systems use oscillating water-column technology. Platforms support vertical air tubes. Wave action makes the air in the tube rush up and down, which drives an air turbine inside the top of the tube.
The platforms are outfitted with “jack-up” legs. They can be towed in place and the legs dropped down to the bottom. The platforms are designed to be installed or removed in one day. There are no moving parts below the water. As a result, the company contends that they do not injure fish, crabs, birds, or marine mammals.
In October, the Grays Harbor Ocean Energy Company made a preliminary application to the Energy Regulatory Commission for the projects. According to the filing, the offshore projects would generate up to 100 megawatts of electricity from the two sites 12 to 15 miles off the Long Island shore.
In each location, the converters could produce an average of 40 megawatts, the company said. Wind turbines could supplement the system, and the proposed transmission line would be designed to carry this additional capacity.
A megawatt is equivalent to 1 million watts, able to provide electricity for about 800 houses. The 40 megawatts that the South Shore installation would produce might be enough to power as many as 32,000 houses.
If approved, the project would proceed in phases. Two conversion platforms would be installed in a five-year pilot period. During that time, the company would apply for a commercial license.
Grays Harbor has set a goal of 2016 for reaching its power goals at a cost of between $400 million and $600 million. The privately held company, which was founded last year, said the projects would lead to the creation of new jobs on Long Island and in Rhode Island, and, additionally, that the offshore platforms would enhance fisheries by serving as artificial reefs.
It said that the sites and transmission line routes for both projects would take commercial and recreational fishing interests into account.
Bonnie Brady, the director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, which fought the placement of wind turbines off Long Island several years ago, said her group had not yet heard of the wave power project.
Gray Harbor applied for use of a triangular area bounded by a point about 12 miles south-southeast of Jones Beach, extending to Montauk. According to the documents, the platforms would be visible from shore only a few days a year “under extremely clear visibility conditions.”
A transmission line would run to Jones Beach. It would be tied into the Long Island Power Authority grid.
Electricity from the site southeast of Montauk would be used on Block Island and in the Providence, R.I., area. The initial study area proposed by the company covers the 96 square miles in a roughly rectangular shape.
Earlier this year, the State of Rhode Island approved a bid from Deepwater Wind to develop a $1 billion offshore wind farm whose location has not been set. Another proposal, for wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, has been the subject of heated opposition.
Near Shelter Island
The Natural Currents Energy Services company of New England has filed an application with the Energy Regulatory Commission to study the feasibility of generating power with turbines turned by tidal currents that flow along the south and west coasts of Shelter Island.
The actual work for the Shelter Island Tidal Energy Project would be done by the Ventura Ocean Energy Project, according to the October filing.
“This is news to me,” Shelter Island Town Supervisor James Dougherty said yesterday. “I’m keeping an open mind, but it would have to be studied very carefully.”
The proposal for the waters around Shelter Island differs from the two offshore projects in that it would rely on tidal motion instead of wave energy. Natural Currents Energy Services of Highland, N.Y., is seeking a three-year permit to install five tide turbines in a narrow portion of Southold Bay at the north of the island to the west of Greenport.
It would place another five of the generators in Shelter Island Sound off North Haven. The electricity, estimated at 36 megawatts total, would be sold to LIPA as early as 2011 for use on Shelter Island.
Natural Currents already has a federal permit for a tidal power project off Orient Point. It did not specify how much the Shelter Island project would cost.
W. Burton Hamner, president of Grays Harbor, said yesterday that his company was not involved in the Shelter Island project. He sounded an apologetic note for a lack of advance publicity about his company’s massive renewable energy plan.
“We have a slight problem. We applied to FERC in October.” The Federal Energy Commission claimed sole authority over offshore energy on Oct. 16.
“Normally it takes them four or five months. This time it took weeks. We have not had time to talk to a lot of people, but we will soon,” Mr. Hamner promised.
The company president was reported as describing his firm’s strategy as a “homestead process. You stick your stake out there. We were the first to identify a good site and put a box around it.”
Gordian Raacke, the executive director of Renewable Energy Long Island, said that while he had not seen the specifics of the proposals, “it’s generally promising, assuming environmental impacts are not significant.”
“We would expect them to meet part of our energy needs, but it’s at an early pre-commercial stage. This might go a long way to test the technology.”