Sweden-based wave energy developer CorPower Ocean has entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AltaSea, a research and development centre, to deploy wave energy at the Port of Los Angeles in California.
With the MoU, AltaSea will provide access to its facilities and resources at its 35-acre campus in the Port of Los Angeles to CorPower for the development of ocean energy solutions.
The MoU comes at a time when the US is promoting new sources of renewable energy, including a $369bn investment in climate and energy programmes with the introduction of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
California’s Senate recently passed a bill for the deployment of wave energy. The bill directs the California Energy Commission to work with various state agencies and stakeholders to determine the feasibility, costs and potential deployment of wave and tidal energy technologies across the state’s 840-mile (1,351km) coastline.
CorPower Ocean business development head Anders Jansson said: “We are hugely motivated by the prospect of developing a wave energy industry in the US, accelerating the energy transition and stimulating long-term jobs and wealth creation. We have been steadily ramping up activity in the US for several years. Our collaboration with AltaSea strengthens this foundation, opening up a tremendous resource in California and other West Coast states.
“We believe wave energy will play a vital role in America’s future energy transition as a consistent power source with the ability to provide stability to the clean energy mix. This will ensure renewable energy can be delivered 24/7 in line with demand, reducing market volatility. Ultimately, we are looking to help pave the way to 100% renewable energy systems delivering 24/7 carbon-free energy with the lowest cost and highest resilience.”
CorPower and AltaSea say that deploying wave energy between 10% and 25% can result in the lowest cost mix to reach 100% renewables, especially in places such as the West Coast of the US.
CorPower claims that the US, with more than 95,000 miles of coastline, has the potential to generate 2.64 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, which amounts to roughly 64% of the country’s total electricity generated in 2021.
