US Department of Energy (DoE) Water Power Program intends to issue a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to construct a national wave energy test facility inside US federal or state waters.
To support the full-scale testing of marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) wave energy devices, up to $40 million in funding will be provided to fund development and construction activities for a grid-connected wave test facility.
The test facility should have at least three test berths in order to test wave energy devices simultaneously and independently, with up to 1 MW each in size, according to a notice of intent released by US DoE.
US DoE informed it intends to issue the funding call for wave energy test centre in August 2016.
In line with the parameters issued by US DoE, only two parties will reportedly be qualified to compete for the wave energy test site, including Oregon State University’s Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center and Cal Poly’s Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy CalWave test center, off California, according to the Portland Business Journal.