1. University of Southern California
Viterbi School of Engineering
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering
Tidal and Wind Power Plant Proposal
EE 526 – Renewable Energy in Power Systems
Spring 2015
Prepared for Prof. Mohammed Beshir
Prepared by:
Michael Bernas
Dae Hyun Kang
Jahyun Koo
Akshay Nerurkar
2. Introduction
The project goal is to supply electricity 100,000 customers in Southern California
region. Since the Southern California does not have the ocean energy type power
plant, therefore, we decide to install the wave and tidal power plant to supply the
demand.
Technology
Our team decided to use the tidal and wave power generation for this project.
I. Tidal Power
Tidal power generation has two main generation types which is the kinetic energy
from current stream and potential energy of height difference of tidal ranges.
Following technologies are listed below.
i. Tidal Stream Generator
Tidal Stream generator is using kinetic energy of current movement to power
turbines. This technology is similar to wind turbine, where a fluid horizontally
passes through and rotates a propeller, but tidal stream generators use water
instead of air as its driving fluid. The calculation of tidal stream generator power
equals to equation below.
P =
ρAV3
2
Cp
P = power generates (Watts)
Cp = the turbine power coefficient
V = the velocity of flow
ρ = the density of the water
A = the sweep area of the turbine (m2)
Some devices already has been commercialized, however, the power generating
condition is very limited which requires high flow velocities.
ii. Tidal Barrage
Tidal Barrage is using potential energy of flood and ebb tide. It is similar to a
hydroelectric power dam. Constructing the large dam on estuary basin, bay or river
with sluices that has a turbine on dammed area. When the tides are high, sluices are
closed. When the highest point reached, it opens the gate to move the turbines. The
tidal barrage can be generate the power of one-way or two-way generation for each
tide period. The tidal barrage's generating power is predictable, however, it has a
very high capital cost to build. The equation for potential energy is:
E =
1
2
Aρgh2
E = Potential energy
A = the horizontal area of the barrage basin
g = acceleration due to the Earth's gravity
3. ρ = the density of the water
h = vertical tide range.
Some places operate the tidal barrage, however, it has a limitation of plating
location on worldwide. Because the location should have a great tidal range
difference.
iii. Tidal Lagoon
Tidal lagoon is very similar to the tidal barrage, but it is a harbor type structure
closing off a tidal sea area. Tidal Lagoon has not been commercialized, yet. The
Swansea city Tidal Lagoon project is in progress.
iv. Dynamic Tidal Power
Dynamic tidal power is a new and untested method. It would build a large dam-like
structure extending from the coast straight to the ocean, with a perpendicular
barrier at the far end, forming a large 'T' Shape. A DTP dam is long enough to exert
an influence on the horizontal tidal movement, which generates a water level
differential (head) over both sides of the dam. The low-head turbines are installed in
the dam to generate the power. DTP's turbine technologies are friendly to fish,
because its propeller is rotating vertically.
Table 1. Tidal Power Generation Devices
ALSTOM
OCEADE18-
1.4MW1
Deep Green2 Siwha
Tidal
Barrage3
La
Rance
Tidal
Barrage
Swansea
Bay
Tidal
Lagoon4
DTP5
Rated
Power
1.4MW
(per device)
0.12~0.85MW
(per device)
254MW 240MW 320MW 8000MW
Capital
Cost
Undefined 42 million US
dollars for 10
kites
293
million
US
dollars
622
million
US
dollars
(2009)
1.4
billion
US
Dollars
40 billion
US Dollars
Designated
Condition
2.7 m/s 1.2~2.5m/s 5.82 m
head of
seawater
Tidal
range
up to 8
m
Tidal
range up
to 10.5
m
Undefined
Location Scotland United
Kingdom
South
Korea
France United
Kingdom
China,
South Korea
1 Tidal Stream Turbine,ALSTOM, http://www.alstom.com/products-services/product-catalogue/power-
generation/renewable-energy/ocean-energy/tidal-energy/tidal-power/
2 Seeing Deep Green with Low-velocity Tidal Power, David Appleyard,
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/08/seeing-deep-green-with-low-velocity-
tidal-power
3 Sihwa Tidal barrage,Kwater, http://tlight.kwater.or.kr/
4 Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay, TidalLagoon Swansea Bay, http://www.tidallagoonswanseabay.com/the-
project/what-is-a-tidal-lagoon%3F/52/
5 DynamicTidal Power Planned For the China Coast, http://renewableenergydev.com/dynamic-tidal-power-
planned-for-the-china-coast/
4. II. Wave Power
Wave power is using the kinetic energy of the ocean surface wave that is caused by
wind blow to generate electricity. Wave power has a lot of potential, but it is hard to
harness to convert to the electricity. A lot of experimental projects are still going on
to get better efficiency.6
i. Point absorber buoy
This technology is using the rise and fall of swells to drive hydraulic pump to
generate the electricity. The device is placed on sea surface, and held in places by
cables which connected to the seabed. Each devices has different calculations and
different methods of generating electricity. Here is the one equation to calculate the
floating body dynamics:
𝑚∙𝑧̈( 𝑡)=𝐹 𝐻(𝑡)+𝐹 𝑅(𝑡)
m : total mass of the system
𝑧̈( 𝑡) : vertical acceleration
(𝑡) : hydrodynamic force
(𝑡) : resistance force
ii. Surface attenuator
This technology is using the rise and fall of swells that creates the flexing motion on
multiple devices on sea surface. It usually use the hydraulic pump to generate the
electricity.
iii. Oscillating Water Colum
This device is placed on shore or in deeper waters offshore. This device has an
integrated air chamber which is compressing the air by swell to force the air to air
turbine to generate the electricity.
iv. Over Topping Device
This technology is constructing long structure which is a reservoir, using the wave
velocity to fill a reservoir to a great water level than the surrounding ocean. The
potential energy in the reservoir height is then captured with low-head turbines.
This device can be placed on shore or floating offshore.
v. Oscillating Wave Surge Converter.
This device is fixed one end to a structure or seabed while the other end is free to
move. Energy is collected from the relative motion of the body compared to the
fixed point.
Examples of wave power generation devices are shown below in Table 2.
6 Wave Power, http://www.greenfuelonline.com/wave-power
5. Table 2. Wave Power Generation Devices
APB-3507 WaveNet Crestwing8 OWC WaveDragon9 Oyster
Wave
Power10
Rated
Power
7.2 kW
(per
device)
7.5~750
kW
(per
device)
Max
0.38 MW
300 kW 20 kW~7MW 40MW
(40~50
devices)
Capital
Cost
Undefined 5.2
million
US
dollars
Undefined 7 million
US dollars
1.4 billion US
Dollars
40 billion
US Dollars
Designated
Condition
Sea States
1-5
0.3~ 6m
wave
heights
Sea stated
1-5
N/A Wave
Climate
24 kW/m
N/A
Location Undefined Scotland South
Korea
Spain Denmark Scotland
Type Buoy Buoy Surface
Attenuator
Oscillating
Water
Column
Over Topping
Device
Oscillating
Wave Surge
Converter
III. Plant Configuration for Project
West coast of United States of America has limited tidal and wave power
potential capacity with commercialized technologies. Most of the wave and tidal
power plants are installed on several location world-wide. Therefore, our team
decide to use more advanced technologies that still in development. We choose the
Deep Green Technology for tidal power generation and WaveNet. These devices has
very lower operation and maintenance cost than other technologies. It is much
easier to change the parts, because it is light-weight and easy to access.
Deep Green Technology which is developed by Minesto, Sweden. It is a tidal
stream generator which is placed on 60 to 120 meters depth. The desired tidal
velocities are between 1.2 to 2.5 m/s, and it has rated power at 120 to 850 kW per
device. We choose the DG-12 (Deep Green 12) that has desired velocity at 1.4 to 2.2
m/s and 500 kW at 1.6 m/s. Twenty five devices can be installed per km2 area. It has
advantages of weight. The devices is only 7 tons which is much lighter than other
7 APB-350,Ocean Power Technology, http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com/apb-350/
8 The Crest Wing Wave Energy Device, Kofoed, Jens Peter; Antonishen, Michael Patrick,
http://vbn.aau.dk/files/19168819/The_Crest_Wing_Wave_Energy_Device
9 Wave Dragon - From 20 kW to the 7 MW prototype device, Hans Christian Soerensen,
http://ec.europa.eu/research/energy/pdf/gp/gp_events/ocean_energy/1010_wave_dragon_en.pdf
10 Lewis Wave Power Limited, Aquamarine Power,
http://www.aquamarinepower.com/sites/resources/Reports/3174/Lewis%20Wave%20Power%2040MW%2
0Oyster%20Wave%20Array%20Non%20Technical%20Summary%20in%20English.pdf
6. devices. It consists of wing, turbine, nacelle, rudder, struts and tether. It moves like a
kite in the ocean, therefore, it is more fish-friendly than other tidal stream turbine
devices that use propeller. Since the device is lighter than other devices, the
transportation cost is cheaper.
WaveNet, which looks like squid, is developed by Albatern, United Kingdom.
WaveNet is an offshore array-based wave energy converter that uses the motion of
waves to generate the electricity. It has 7.5 to 750 kW rated power, and installation
depth is 20 to 40 meters. It requires 0.3 to 6 meters of wave heights to operate. The
advantages of WaveNet are high efficiency using smaller area than other
technologies, and non-linear yield. Depend on theory, it can be generate 300 MW
per km2. We choose the WaveNet Series 24 which has 750 kW rated power per
device.
As we discovered area available on the west coast of United States of
America, we decide to use 30 devices of DG-12 and 141 devices of WaveNet Series
24. The DG-12 array configuration's installed capacity is 15 MW, and the WaveNet
Series 24 array configuration's installed capacity is 100 MW. Therefore, total
installed capacity is expecting up to 115 MW with full operation. The devices are
probably not going to operate 100%, however, the desired conditions are mostly
meet the requirement conditions of locations. Therefore, we expect this
configuration works to meet the electricity demand.
Plant size calculation
In order to determine the minimal plant size that is needed to serve 100,000
costumers the amount of power consumed per costumer must first be identified. If
the term costumer is assumed to be a single power user and the average annual
power consumption of a person in LA is 6,400 kWh/person11, the total power of the
plant can be calculated with the equations below.
6,400 ∗ 100,000 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑠 = 640𝐺𝑊ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 =
640 𝐺𝑊𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
8760 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
73.1 𝑀𝑊
In order to meet this value, the proposed power plant will be well above 73.1MW.
Location
The location of the power plant is one of the major challenges in construction a tidal
power plant. The resources are small along the California coast, making possible
locations difficult. The tidal and Wind farm locations were chosen to be inside the
entrance of the San Francisco Bay and just offshore from San Francisco, respectively.
The key factors affecting the location decision will be further explained in the next
two sections.
11 Lecture 1 EE 526 Slide #11 M.J. Beshir 1/14/2014
7. I. Tidal location
The location of the tidal plant was the primary challenge facing the proposal of a
tidal power plant of this magnitude. Tidal resources are small in California because
head heights are only around 2 meters. Ideal tidal locations are places like Alaska or
Scotland, which have a tidal height variation of several feet over the matter of a few
hours. With this being known. The location of the tidal plant would need to be
treated with more precedence over the location of the wave power plant. Ideally the
tidal location would have strong wave resources close bye, but that would need to
be determined after some possible tidal locations were found.
Another option that is better suited to the tidal resources in California is using tidal
streams. Tidal steams are favorable because they will not close off areas that are
used for shipping and recreation and they can be implemented completely under
the surface in some cases. But tidal steams do have some usability issues. The
Electric Power Research Institute’s report analyzing tidal resources claimed up to
15%12 of the total tidal steam can be used, any more than that can cause
environmental disturbances through slowing and shifting natural tidal streams.
To find the best tidal location for this project, all of California was considered
because PG&E, SCE, SDG&E are on the same transmission system. This means a
power plant in San Francisco can serve residents in the southern part of San Diego
without any unnecessary buying and selling between private utilities. A list of the
top five tidal resources can be found in Table 3 as provided by Georgia Tech
Research Corporation. Based on the info in table 3, the best tidal resource is San
Francisco Bay by a large margin. To gain a visual appreciation in difference in
resources, refer to figure 1.
Table 3 California Tidal Resources
Location Potential
San Diego Bay 3 MW
Tamales Bay 3 MW
Heckman Island 6 MW
Humboldt Bay 14 MW
San Francisco Bay 178 MW
12 EPRI, (2006).North America Tidal InStream Energy Conversion Feasibility Study.EPRITP008NA
8. Figure1 Tidal Resources (left) San Francisco Bay(middle) HumboldtBay (right) San Diego Bay
Based on the info in table 1, San Francisco Bay was chosen for the tidal power plant.
But there is still more to the choice in
location. San Francisco bay has the best
tidal stream at the entrance of the bay.
But there is also a high quality region of
resources at the Carquinez Strait. The
issue with the Carquinez Strait is the
water depth is less than 20 m, where as
the technology being used needs a water
depth more than 70m, which is only
available at the entrance of the bay.
The entrance of the bay still isn’t a
consistent bottom nor is it a perfect
square making it difficult to access the
amount of usable land. A horizontal view
of the bathymetry can be seen in figure 2. A Matlab analysis was used to find the
max number of power plants that could be placed in the entrance of the San
Francisco Bay based on the barometry and technology specifications. Usable land
must be deeper than 70 meters and the footprint of the tidal power plant needing to
be 240m by 240m. Using raw data from the United States Geological Survey, an
image of the under water bathymetry can be analyzed with each pixel being 20m by
20m13. The image processing can be seen in figure 3. The initial image is on the left,
showing the entrance to the central bay. The center image shows the bay in green
and all the usable land for power plants in dark blue. The right image is a zoomed in
version of the center image showing the usable land.
13 "San Francisco Bay Bathymetry." San Francisco Bay Bathymetry. U.s. Geological Survey, 10 Dec. 2012.Web.10
Apr. 2015.
Figure2 San Francisco BayBathymitry
9. The usable land in figure 3 shows spots and curves at the edges that will be
considered unusable. The total number of plants if all the land is considered usable
is 37. After edge informalities and curves are taken into consideration, the total
number of plants is chosen to be 30.
The Tidal Power quality at this
location can also be analyses
through Matlab. Using the tidal
resource information provided for
Georgia Tech, the tidal current
speed over the course of a week can
be matched to the power generated
by a Deep Green generator at
corresponding speed. The analysis
done assumes there is no additional
power losses between power
generation to power transmission. A
linear approximation for the cut in
region is used instead of the
nonlinear curve. This approximation
will moderately affect the total power generated especially given that the current
speed operates mostly in the non-linear cut-in region. Although it is not completely
accurate the linear version still provided quality insight into the approximate power
the region can produce with a given technology. The average power per plant was
100 kW, which is about a 20% capacity factor. Given a 30 generator far. The average
power generated by the tidal power farm will be 3MW. The Tidal power generated
over the course of five and a half days can be seen in figure 4.
II. Wave location
Although the primary location has been chosen for the tidal power plant, the wave
power plant must still be chosen at in a spot that is relatively close to the tidal
power plant. The primary issue with the wave power plant is marine sanctuaries off
the coast of the San Francisco. Another thing to consider is wave energy resource.
The San Francisco region has a high potential for wave energy but as the power
plant moves closer to the shoreline, the waves decrease in size and strength.
Figure3 Bathymetry analysis (left) Initial water depth image (center) targeted water depth (right)
targeted water depth location zoomed in
Figure4 Tidal Power generated by a singleplant over a 5.5-
day period.
10. Another factor is the land that’s extends west just above San Francisco out to Rocky
Point. This section of land decreases swell energy moving in from the north, which is
common in the winter, so a proposed wave power plant should be far enough south
that it is outside of the shadow of that land mass. An image of the San Francisco
coast can be seen in figure 5. The image also shows the proposed wave plant
location. This location is ideal because it is due west of a PG&E substation, far
enough south that it is outside of the Rocky Point land mass shadow (show in the
top of the image), and far enough at sea to optimize wave strength and transmission
line length.
Figure5 Proposed Wave Power Plant Location
Wave power can be considered to be more predictable compared to solar and wind
because swell are slower moving and have greater inertia. The wave power quality
can be calculated using the same style of Matlab analysis. The max power of a single
unit is 750kW, cut in is .3 m, and normal operation is between .3m and 1m. Figure 4
shows amount of power produced from a single wave power plant can be graphed
over a 46-day period using wave height data provided from the National Data Buoy
Center14. The graph uses a linear assumption for the cut-in region for the wave
power plant. This assumption should have little effect on the approximation for the
power produced by the wave power generator because the generator is mostly
14 "Station 46026 (LLNR 357) - SAN FRANCISCO - 18NM West of San Francisco, CA." NDBC. National Data Buoy
Center,n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
11. operation in its desired region. Although not show, the is also an issue with cut-out
power during large winter swells greater than 6m in height.
Figure6 Power generated by a single plant based ontime dependent wave height
Procurement
I. Land
Since the land is out at see the land will not need to be procured from any private
parties. The primary issue faced with land procurement is the need to lease the land
from the Minerals Management Service. The MMS has jurisdiction over sea floor that
is outside of a three-mile radius of land. This will not be an issue for the tidal power
plant because it is inside the San Francisco Bay entrance. The wave power plant
however is 20 km at sea, and will have its transmission lines and substations
directly below it on the sea flow, so the land will need to be lease from the MMS.
Since substations for the power plants will be at the base of the generators for both
the tidal and the wave power plants, there is no need to lease any land for a above
see substation. Land will however need to be leased for the transmission lines to
connect the plant to the substation of choice. This land procurement will need to be
done with the city and counties of San Francisco.
II. Generation Equipment
Generation equipment will be directly purchased from the manufactures. 30 DG-12
tidal power plants will be bought from Manesto. Manesto is currently the only
company building the kite style tidal power plant that is being implemented, and
12. they are currently gaining experience by implementing them in Ireland15. 141
WaveNet Series 2 generators will be purchased directly from the WaveNet
manufactures. Much like Manesto, WaveNet is the only company that is producing
their system of power plant.
III. Electrical Facility
In order to transmit power from the power plants out at sea to PG&E substations a
Cornwall Wave Hub substation will be used to collect power and step up voltage.
The Wave Hub is able to handle up to 25 MW of power so one unit will be used for
the tidal power plant and four units will be used with the wave power plant. To
transmit the power 82km of 21 kV submarine transmission line will need to be
purchases, 2 km for the tidal power plant and 4x20km for the wave power plant.
6km of underground transmission line will then be needed to connect to the local
substations. The wave power plant will also need a large bus to collect the power
from the 4 submarine power lines and transfer it to a single underground
transmission line.
Environmental Issues
Little is known about the potential environmental impacts from ocean energy
devices and systems16. Tidal & wave power technologies are building on lessons
learned from conventional hydropower and the wind industry. However, only a
limited number of devices have been tested at sea, and the industry has yet to settle
on a clear preferred technology. Assessments have identified a number of potential
environmental impacts from tidal & wave energy development.
I. Presence of devices: static effects
Caused by the presence of the device and foundation, including new structures in
the water column and disturbances during installation or removal or both.
II. Presence of devices: dynamic effects
Caused by the operation of the device, including blade strike, entrainment,
impingement, and the device wake.
III. Chemical effects
Due to contaminations from lubricants, paints, or coatings.
IV. Acoustic effects
From noise due to device operation or installation or both.
V. Electromagnetic effects
15 "DECC Awards over £500,000 for the Continued Development of the Deep Green TidalPower Plant." Power
from Tidaland Ocean Currents.Manesto, 25 Feb. 2014.Web.
16 DOE (U.S. Department of Energy).2009. Report to Congress on the Potential Environmental Effects of Marine
and Hydrokinetic Energy Technologies: Prepared in Response to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007,
Section 633(B). Wind & Power Program, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.
December 2009.
13. From EMFs associated with the generator and power electronics on a device or
power cable or both.
VI. Energy removal
Primarily on the far-field environment, which are a consequence of energy removal
from tidal systems.
Interconnection Points & Transmission
The power plants are located in San Francisco bay area, and PG&E is a major utility
service provider in the area, which has a large grid network with a lot of substations
indicated as red squares in Figure 7 below. Therefore, two of the PG&E substations
were chosen as interconnection points for each power plants sending the power to
southern California area.
Figure 7 Two selected substations (highlighted) as interconnection points.
I. Tidal
14. Sausalito meter PG&E substation is the closest interconnection point to the tidal
power plant located right under Golden Gate Bridge. According to PG&E’s wholesale
distribution fast track, the new 21 kV transmission line can be tapped onto an
existing PG&E 21 kV distribution bus, as shown in Figure 8. Unfortunately exact
specifications of devices including the collecting hub, but a proper transformers will
step down the voltage to 21 kV for submarine & underground transmission from the
collecting hubs to the substation.
II. Wave
Daly City PG&E substation is the closest interconnection point to the wave power
plant located on the sea 20 km far from San Francisco coast. In the same manner as
mentioned above, the wave power plant will be connected to Daly City substation.
Figure 8 Simplified single line for tap interconnection
III. Limitation
Since there is 3MW limitation on the 21 kV transmission regulated by PG&E,
multiples of transmission line might be needed17.
17 PG&E Generation Interconnection Services. 2012.Distribution Wholesale Fast Track.
15. Construction
I. Tidal
Construction of tidal generation devices is quite a simple process. 30 Deep Green
devices’ foundation part, which holds a string tethered to the kite, will be fixed on
the seabed, as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9 Deep Green tidal generators are moored on the seabed.
One 25 MW unit of Cornwall Wave Hub
will be connected to all single devices
and collect the generated power. The
collecting hub also will be fixed on the
seabed middle of the devices as shown
in Figure 10.
The power collected by Wave Hub will
be go through a transformer and be
delivered to Sausalito meter substation
using 2 km-long 21 kV submarine
transmission lines and 2 km-long 21 kV
underground transmission line.
II. Wave
Six single generating units are road transportable, so they can be easily carried to
the coast and to the installation spot on the sea using a relatively small ship. Once
the units arrive at the location, they are assembled into an array in the water, and
the array is moored on the seabed.
Figure10 Wave Hub collects all the generated power
from singledevices.
16. Figure 11 Small unit size helps minimize the costs of deploying WaveNET arrays.
Due to the bigger capacity of the generation system compared to the tidal system,
four 25 MW Cornwall Wave Hub units will be connected to the array for collection
and fixed on the seabed too.
The power collected by the Wave Hubs will be go through a transformer and be
delivered to Daly City substation using 20 km-long 21 kV submarine transmission
lines and 3 km-long 21 kV underground transmission line.
Cost Analysis
The project costs are estimated.18
• Deep Green:
Current Project Cost: GBP 40 mil for 5 devices
Total Cost Estimation: GBP 8 mil X 30 devices = $ 263 million
• WaveNet:
Current Project Cost: $ 2 mil for 6 devices of 7.5 KW
Total Cost Estimation: $2 mil / 6 devices x 141 devices x 4 (four times bigger
than 7.5 kW) x 4(Development, mooring, and others) = $752 million
• Total Estimation of Cost: $ 1.015 Billion
• Fuel cost is zero as there is no fuel used in the project.
18 AWS Ocean
17. Figure12 Levelized costof electricitybreakdown for a commercial scaleWEC power plant
LCOE: Levelized cost of Energy [c$/kWh]
Period of year: 120 years
Discount rate: 3%
Capital Cost ($/kW): $8826/kW
Capacity Factor: 40%
Fixed O&M ($/kW-yr.): $441.3/ kW-yr.
Electricity price (cents/kWh): 15.2 cents/kWh
Cost Escalation Rate (%): 3.12%
The economic analysis shows an LCOE in the range of 60.7¢/kWh
Figure shows a breakdown of the LCOE by cost element for our case. Nearly 50% of
the LCOE is associated with the annual O&M and the 10‐year refit. As technology
matures and reliability increases, it is expected that these costs will decrease.19
19 http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/prices.html
18. Operations and Maintenance
Operating and maintenance costs make up 17% of lifetime costs for a wave array
and 19% of lifetime costs for a tidal array. Reliability is a very important factor, as
off-shore maintenance is very costly by nature. A significant proportion of the total
cost for maintenance is the cost to access the devices, so any decreases in planned or
unplanned maintenance can achieve material cost reductions
Future Cost of Electricity
Conversely, it can be expected that if wave power is successfully commercialized
and deployed more broadly, learning curve effects will help to drive down the cost
of electricity below the levels shown here. Applying learning curves to the above
costs provides an indication of the long‐ term economics of a particular technology.
Cost reduction goes hand‐ in‐ hand with cumulative production experience and
follows a logarithmic relationship such that for each doubling of the cumulative
production volume, there is a corresponding percentage drop in cost.20
Figure13 Projected costreduction of wave energy compared to wind equivalent
FINANCIAL BACKGROUND
• Commercial bank loans are the most important source for project financing.
Depending on a project, commercial bank loans may include a single lender, several
lenders or be syndicated.
20 Carbon Trust.(2005).Future marine energy - results of the marine energy challenge: Cost
competiveness and growth of wave and tidal stream Energy. Retrieved from
http://www.oceanrenewable.com/wp
19. • Four alternative types of bank credit facilities might be arranged to finance a
project and can be classified as; revolving credit, term loan, standby letter of credit
or performance bond, bridge loan.
• There is Capital market is a market where people, we can raise long-term funds
and it consists of stocks and bonds.
• There is Government grants for the project and this is the most important source
for an upcoming project
• There are private and public sponsors as well as special investment institution
which help raise money for the project.
• Production Incentive, referred to as supplemental energy payments (SEPs), will be
awarded to eligible renewable energy facilities to cover the above market costs of
renewable resources selected by retail sellers to fulfill their obligations. Retail
sellers are California's three largest investor-owned utilities: PG&E, SDG&E, and
SCE. These payments are required by law, with funding of approximately $69.5
million.
• There is California state incentive for reduced carbon emission
POSSIBLE RISKS OF FINANCE
• Tidal/ Wave power: Small scale and long leads, technology risks and survivability,
in harsh marine environments are the types of risks that tidal/wave power projects
contain.
• Unlike all other renewable energy sources, wave and tidal energy projects are not
eligible for renewable production tax credits.
• Except than the risks that are numbered above, another problem is to finance the
renewable energy projects as they are high-priced and investors are reluctant to
finance it.
Project Management
In virtually every project management literature source, it is clearly and loudly
proclaimed that the project management discipline is essential to the very survival
of many businesses. It is through this discipline’s methodologies and tools which
assist firms to become or retain a globally competitive edge.
Project Management Aspect
1. Schedule Challenges
2. Product and Quality Challenges
3. Research and Development
4. Production and Operations
5. Marketing
6. Personnel Challenges
7. Technology Issues
20. Timeline
• Project Schedule: 4 ½ years
Figure 14 Estimated timeline for our project
Project Milestones
1) Land Agreement Completion – End of year 2
2) Device development Completion –End of year 2
3) Acquire funds- End of First quarter of year 3
4) Finish Construction - End of First quarter of year 3
5) Begin operation – Start of 2nd quarter of 4th year
Permitting Issues
The environmental permitting process for projects located offshore California is
complex, involving a variety of federal, State and local resource management
agencies. This section of the report will outline the jurisdictional and permitting
framework as it applies to wave energy projects operating offshore California.
21. Figure75 Primary Maritimeboundaries
I. Federal Regulations
There are over forty principle statutes addressing potential environmental impacts
at the federal level,18 but only a handful are directly relevant to wave power
jurisdictions.19 A description of the most important and relevant statutes, and a
more extensive table of applicable federal regulations, is presented below. The
primary federal regulations applicable.
1. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)River and Harbors Act
2. Clean Water Act
3. Clean Air Act
4. Navigation and Navigable Waters
5. Coastal Zone Management Act
6. Endangered Species Act/Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act
7. State and Local Authorities
8. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
9. Submerged Lands Act/California State Lands Act
10. Clean Water Act/California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
11. The California Endangered Species Act (CA ESA)
Conclusion
This report outlines a proposed Tidal/ Wave power plant. The tidal power plant is
rated for 15MW and the wave power plant is rates for 1000 MW. The location was
chosen to be San Francisco because of its high quality tidal resources. Although the
coast of energy is high the plant offers high quality renewable power that has little
environmental impact. Overall the proposed power plant is a decent option for
power production in a modern power system.