14 DAY TRIAL // Just yesterday, the Energy Department in the United States announced that the country was ready and willing to spend as much as $10 million (approximately €7.22 million) on clean energy projects.
On its website, the Energy Department details that this money will serve to carry out a series wave energy demonstrations in Hawaiian waters, and that the end goal is to diversify the country's energy portfolio.
Specifically, the $10 million are to be spent on testing technologies designed to harvest the energy potential of ocean waves and use it to generate clean power. These tests are to be carried out close to Hawaii's island of Oahu.
“The Energy Department today announced $10 million to test prototypes designed to generate clean, renewable electricity from ocean waves and help diversify America’s energy portfolio,” the Department writes.
“The Energy Department-supported demonstrations at the US Navy’s wave energy test site off Hawaii’s island of Oahu will help develop reliable wave energy options and collect important performance and cost data for wave energy conversion (WEC) devices,” it adds.
Information shared with the public says that, as part of this initiative, two wave energy conversion devices are to be tested offshore from the Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay at depths of 60 and 80 meters (roughly 196 and 262 feet).
The folks in charge of keeping tabs on these tests are to focus on technology performance and reliability. They are expected to also make observations concerning the cost of the energy obtained by exploiting ocean waves.
Interestingly enough, it appears that the two wave energy demonstration projects in Hawaiian waters are to be carried out in several phases. Thus, the people behind them will first optimize the design of the wave energy conversion devices and will make plans for deployment and testing.
At a later stage, they are to turn their attention towards the permitting, fabrication, retrieval, and decommissioning of the wave energy conversion devices put to test in Hawaiian waters. Should things go according to plan, the systems will be kept up and running for about 12 months.
It is believed that this period of time will be enough for specialists to collect enough information concerning their efficiency, their reliability, and the costs associated with generating clean power by harvesting the energy potential of ocean waters.
The United States Energy Department stresses that, given the urgency to limit climate change and global warming, investing in both energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies is pretty much mandatory. Such investments are expected to also benefit the country's energy security and its economy.