Oregon's waves have draw from near and far

Enlarge Image

Mason Walker is associate editor of SustainableBusinessOregon.com and new media manager for the Portland Business Journal.

In 1967, former Gov. Tom McCall passed the landmark Oregon Beach Bill – a formal document granting Oregonians "free and uninterrupted use of the beaches." When passing the bill, he likely envisioned beach-goers, surfers, hikers and campers taking advantage of Oregon's piece of the Pacific Coast.

It's harder to believe that he envisioned that same coast taking shape as a global epicenter of the burgeoning wave energy industry.

Yet 44 years later, here we are.

Last week saw Portland play host to the Ocean Renewable Energy Conference. After attending last year's conference, I was eager this year to re-gauge Oregon's role in this maturing energy sector.

In its sixth year, the two-day event featured a comprehensive program of panels and speakers, all surrounded by exhibitors showcasing the latest wave energy harvesting machines and groundbreaking technologies. The program is quite technical too — this year's topics ranged from a presentation on transmission grid requirements to a panel on the state of the global energy mix.

But this year featured something different.

Over all of the thick industry jargon and policy debates, it was clear that something had changed.

I first noticed it when a well-dressed group began circling the room, sharing enthusiastic handshakes and business cards. I later learned they were EMOVE, a Portuguese startup with a proprietary wave energy machine.

The theme continued when I visited the exhibitor table of Hann–Ocean. The well-funded company from Singapore also has a proprietary wave energy device, as well as an ambitious solar/wave/wind/tidal hybrid concept under patent.

And that was only the tip of the international presence.

Denmark's Floating Power A/S — a U.S.-based subsidiary of which opened in Lake Oswego in April — was on hand to show off its wind/wave machine. Aquamarine Power – which recently opened a small office in Newport – and Aquatera were in from the United Kingdom. British Columbia's Ocean Renewable Energy Group had made the trek south to represent Canada's wave industry.

I wasn't the only one who noticed the influx of global interest in Oregon's waves.

Gov. John Kitzhaber formally tipped his hat, proclaiming the week Oregon Wave Week (I assume that the parallel timing with Discovery Channel's Shark Week was just a coincidence). In his statement, Kitzhaber first acknowledged the existence of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust, the organization – funded largely by the Oregon Innovation Council – responsible for the conference.

He also mentioned the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, a joint research center operated by Oregon State University, the University of Washington and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

While it's clear that the wave energy industry in Oregon is growing up, it's still a new frontier, and one that's hardly without challenges.

There's ample parity between the emerging wave technologies. Developers are struggling with grid connection and land use. Conservationists are frantically researching impacts. Fishermen have concerns.

However, as the conference last week showed, the momentum is there.

And, more importantly, all of the pieces are in place to responsibly move forward while upholding McCall's hard-fought groundwork.