M3 tests wave technology, seeks funding

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M3 Wave Energy Systems' power-generating device sits out of site on the ocean floor.

Corvallis-based M3 Wave Energy Systems debuted its power-generating technology last week at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University.

As testing wrapped up for the company’s undersea device, the demo marked a new push for funding as M3 looks to an in-ocean pilot. The Oregon company is also making note of an uncertain future as opportunities in wave energy still appear most favorable abroad.

M3 Wave is comprised of principals Mike Morrow, Mike Delos-Reyes, and Mike Miller. All three are Oregonians committed to wave energy development off the state’s famous coast.

Their so-called DMP device technology — it stands for Delos-Reyes Morrow Pressure device — is cleverly simple. Unlike floating buoys or Aquamarine Power’s signature "Oyster" design, both proposed in Oregon, M3'S design doesn’t pierce the surface of the ocean or impact coastal views. Instead, it sits on the ocean floor at depths between 50 and 100 feet. It generates power by responding to water pressure from the waves above, which alternately inflate and deflate a pair of airbags that turn a central turbine to generate power.

The design was conceived by Morrow and Delos-Reyes 20 years ago. As OSU students, they built the first prototype with Dairy Queen spoons, an old Sony Walkman processor and tough plastic bags from the school cafeteria.

The current prototype is one sixth of the final scale, but DMP technology purports a relatively small footprint and the ability to interlock units, fitting as many as 20 to 50 devices in the same space of a buoy footprint, according to Delos-Reyes.

It was designed with Oregonians in mind, and will likely cull some favor with a coastal community that’s pushed, at least in planning talks, to preserve views of the Pacific Ocean as wave tech deploys here. M3 officials point out that DMP is a submerged technology, safe from storms and wind impacts, and has the potential to limit conflicts with fisherman and marine life. That the device's output can be throttled on the fly, and it contains no hydraulic fluids, are also among selling points.

But recent upsets in a much discussed but slow to emerge market in Oregon have caused M3 to consider a leap from the state.

With a planning process still underway to define where ocean energy best fits of Oregon’s coast, and no clear direction for where wave energy can deploy in the short term, Aquamarine Power left Oregon last month, citing regulatory uncertainty and a need to concentrate efforts elsewhere, at least temporarily.

The shift also comes as European nations adopted a position paper on ocean energy — supported by Belgium, Denmark, Norway, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom — a sign that ocean energy may prove a faster moving market overseas and could unlock funding tied to Europe’s carbon reduction goals.

“We are looking for private funding, of course,” said Morrow. “Being lifelong Oregonians with this technology, we don’t want to go elsewhere, but we have to go where the funding is going to go.”

So far funding for M3’s work has been here. A $240,000 grant from the Department of Energy, matched by $60,000 from the Oregon Wave Energy Trust, covered development of the company’s current prototype. A second grant from OWET paid to test at OSU. With data in hand, a proven concept, and no unforeseen hurdles, the next move for M3 is a full scale device and an ocean pilot.

Ideally, Morrow said the company would manufacture and assemble its products here, and has talked with Vigor Industrial and Oregon Iron Works about possible partnerships. He said M3 would like to partner with utilities to sell the device rather than act as an energy developer.

But sales will be in limbo before an ocean test, and lack of a clear path for deploying wave tech in Oregon stands in the way. As legislation and regulation define which devices land in the ocean here, and how, those rules have “the ability to tell investors that we want to do things that can go in the water in Oregon,” said Morrow, and create certainty.

Without guidelines, the company may first look elsewhere for opportunity.

The video below, shot by Lee van der Voo, shows the M3 wave energy technology "in action" during the test. Remember: One of its selling point is the lack of visibility.

Lee van der Voo, lvdvoo*at*gmail.com, is a freelance writer for Sustainable Business Oregon.