Irish company Ocean Energy revealed that they are partnering with Oregon-based Vigor to build their OE Buoy wave energy converter. The Buoy will be deployed at the U.S. Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site on the windward coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu in the fall of 2018.
The 826-ton OE Buoy measures 125 feet x 59 feet with a draft of 31 feet and has a the potential to generate up to 1.25 MW in electrical power production. Each deployed device could reduce CO2 emissions by over 3,600 tons each year, which in a 00 MW wave farm capacity could power up to 18,750 American homes.
“We are thrilled to be participating in this project with Ocean Energy toward the ongoing goal of a cleaner energy future for our planet,” says Frank Foti, CEO of Vigor. “This project represents a solid step forward in developing a commercially viable product to help move us in that critical direction.“[1]
According to the company press release, The $12million project is part-funded by the US Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), under an agreement committing the American and Irish governments to collaborating on Marine Hydrokinetic Technologies.
