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Wave Power Comes to West Coast, Buoys Oregon's Electrical Grid

by Terrence O'Brien on February 25, 2010 at 02:29 PM

Oregon Building First U.S. Wave Farm
Oregon is set to get the first wave farm in the U.S. that will be an important testing ground for ocean generated electricity. Wave power has increasingly garnered attention over the past several years, thanks to the fact that waves are easier to predict and more reliable producers of power than the sun or wind.

At the moment, wave power is an unproven technology still, and because of its infancy, wave energy is about six-times as expensive as wind power. The $60 million, 30-acre aquatic farm will use ten 150-foot-tall buoys (most of which is submerged) to generate enough electricity for about 400 homes.

Ocean Power Technologies, the company that makes the PowerBuoys being used in Oregon, will have to overcome a short but tragic history for wave power. The first commercial wave farm off of Portugal closed due to financial difficulties, and Oregon's initial wave generator project sank -- literally -- as soon as the first buoy hit the water.

If all goes according to plan America's first wave farm will switch on in 2012. [From: USA Today, Via: Good.is and Dvice]

Tags: greentech, ocean power technologies, OceanPowerTechnologies, oregon, renewable energy, RenewableEnergy, top, wave farm, wave power, WaveFarm, WavePower

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