The Mendocino Coast”s only wave energy proposal was tasked with a New Year”s resolution by the federal agency in charge — fix the paperwork.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice of deficiency to Green Wave Mendocino Wave Park on Dec. 29. The notice requires Green Wave to identify this month how many wave energy devices would be placed in the ocean under its proposal for a large-scale wave energy plant.
Green Wave is seeking an exclusive three-year lease from FERC to study wave energy off the Mendocino Coast in a 17-square-mile area centered on the town of Mendocino, where it proposes to bring electric connections onshore.
Unlike in the past, Green Wave”s paperwork problem is minor. In fact, Green Wave has said throughout the process that its proposal is intended to find the best technology and figure out the number of units from that process.
FERC told the Southern California company, which includes State Senator Tony Strickland, a major figure in the Republican Party in California, the application must include a number of total units by the end of January.
“While you have provided proposed installed capacity and estimated the annual production of the proposed project, you have not identified the estimated number of generating units. Given the range in rating capacity of different unit types, we are unable to determine a number for the proposed units. Please provide an estimated or range for the number of units that would be installed within the proposed project boundaries,” FERC wrote.
Green Wave”s plan would generate much more electricity than any other local proposal dreamed. Chevron and PG&E are among those to have proposed wave energy arrays off the Mendocino Coast in the past.
“The application states the rating capacity of the different types of generation technology [Pelamis and OPT] ranges from 150 to 750 kilowatts and the proposed 100 megawatt (MW) Mendocino Wave Park is estimated to produce 250,000 megawatt hours per year.
That ambitious estimate would be enough for 100,000 homes, according to the most commonly used formulas to translate megawatts into usage.
A bigger challenge for Green Wave may be conducting a public process on the Mendocino Coast. Green Wave had been issued the permits it now seeks back in 2009, but those permits were thrown out by FERC last fall, citing repeatedly late paperwork and general answers to specific questions.
The current application has far more specifics.
In 2010, Green Wave promised FERC meetings would be held on the Mendocino Coast involving the firm; those meetings were never held. The company did hire a top consultant and form a partnership with a company actively developing wave energy on the West Coast, but never made any public appearances at numerous public forums on wave energy here, nor met with county or city officials.
That would be required, if FERC grants the permit to Green Wave.
A three-year preliminary permit gives a developer exclusive study rights to an area, and more importantly, automatic first priority for a FERC license at the end of three years.
Now that Green Wave has filed for the permit, FERC will review the application and decide whether to again grant a preliminary permit. FERC has established a process to weed out purely speculative permit applications and requires anyone holding a permit to file periodic reports.
There is no guarantee when FERC will make a decision on Green Wave”s application. FERC”s review period has lasted from weeks to nearly a year in the past.
