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OREC Newsletter- December 2008
Sent Friday, December 26, 2008
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EBB and Tide The Newsletter of the National Trade Association for Hydrokinetic and Marine Renewables ________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference, April 15 & 16 2009 Washington, DC Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Teams OREC Members: Permits & Projects -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------ Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. 1530 P Street NW Washington, DC 20005 USA APRIL 23 & 24, 2009 The first Global Marine Renewable Conference was held in April of 2008 in Times Square New York City--and by most accounts it was a great success. The second GMREC will deliver an agenda as compelling as the NYC conference. While the marine renewable energy industry is producing a broad taxonomy of exciting concepts and designs that will represent the future power plants of a mature industry, technological, economic, and policy barriers must be addressed to prove viability. In Washington DC, experts from government, non government organizations, resource agencies, environmental advocates, and industry will collaborate on fundamental solutions to address this year's theme: Commercialization and the New Renewable Energy Economy Come and join us to discuss: International standards Engineering challenges Government support Regulation and permitting Environmental challenges Working with stakeholder groups Finance and insurance Visit the Conference Website at: http://www.globalmarinerenewable.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ OREC Briefs Obama-Biden Transition Teams The Obama-Biden Administration is wasting no time in getting up to speed on key issues--including those important to the ocean renewable industry. OREC's Sean O'Neill and Carolyn Elefant, along with Phil "PJ" Dougherty, formerly with DOE and now with SMI/Helios Strategies, met with the DOE/EERE Transition Team in early December. The following week, Sean and Herb Nock of Ocean Power Technologies, along with Fara Courtney of the U.S. Offshore Wind Collaborative, represented renewable energy on the Blue Industry Group lead by Leon Panetta, at a meeting with the DOC/NOAA Presidential Transition Team. These meetings typically had about fifteen industry and NGO representantives along with several members of the Presidential Transition Teams. "I was impressed by the transition folks whom we met,"said Carolyn. "They are familiar with many of hte issues and listened extensively to industry's views. At the same time, it was apparent that they mean business, and intend to prepare the administration to move quickly once the President elect Obama takes office" she added. OREC representatives were invited to meet with the other renewable energy organizations and the Obama-Biden Transition Team to discuss green jobs, sustainable energy, the environment and how the Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory can work most effectively with the new Obama Administration. "It's clear that the Obama Transition Team is covering all the bases. Greg's work in Massachusetts is greatly respected in the renewable energy world and his appointment to the transition team brings with it his great talents and energy" said Sean O'Neill, OREC's President. OREC's Sean O'Neill and Carolyn Elefant with Obama-Biden Renewable Energy Transition Team Leader, Greg Watson -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ A copy of our response to the DOE Team's questionnaire is available on our website www.oceanrenewable.com along with our whitepaper entitled Marine & Hydrokinetic Energy: Meeting America's Environmental, Economic & Energy Needs -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ VERDANT FILES FOR COMMERCIAL LICENSE APPLICATION On November 25, 2008, Verdant Power submitted a Draft Pilot License Application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop a 1 MW commercial field of turbines at the RITE Project. The RITE East Channel Pilot would consist of a 30-turbine array installed in the East Channel of the East River. The Draft Pilot License Application was submitted under FERC's Hydrokinetic Pilot Project Licensing Process, developed to allow for the expedited review and licensing of pilot hydrokinetic projects. A copy of the application is available here - http://www.theriteproject.com/Documents.html OREC congratulates Verdant on this accomplishment and wish the company the best in moving forward with the application. While we wholeheartedly applaud Verdant's pioneer efforts, at this time OREC cannot file comments in FERC case dockets in support of specific projects to avoid potential conflicts of interest down the line should our members find themselves in competition with each other. However, our individual members are encouraged to file comments on the proceeding, and may do so by visiting FERC's website, www.ferc.gov. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Ocean Power Technologies and Leighton Contractors Sign Agreement to Develop Wave Power Stations On Dec. 19, 2008 Ocean Power Technologies (Australasia) Pty Ltd (" OPTA"), a subsidiary of Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT and London Stock Exchange AIM: OPT) ("OPT") announced that it has signed an agreement with Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd ("Leighton") to develop wave power projects off the east and south coasts of Australia. This agreement is in line with OPT's global plan to form alliances with strategic partners in key areas of the world and will expand the company's activities in Australia. The initial phase of work will be for OPTA and OPT to identify potential project sites and assess their commercial prospects, under contract from Leighton. Upon identification of projects to be developed, Leighton will obtain approvals, negotiate power purchase agreements, structure project financing, and oversee project delivery and operation of the power stations. OPTA will sell its PowerBuoy wave power station to special purpose companies formed by Leighton for the projects. Leighton Contractors employs over 9,000 people and has Au $9.0 billion in projects. Over the past 50 years, Leighton has played an active role in building Australia's ports and marine facilities, transportation infrastructure, and energy projects including the wind and offshore oil and gas sectors. Available Online: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=155437&p=irol-newsArticl e&ID=1237983&highlight= -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Resolute Marine In The Water Boston-based Resolute Marine Energy recently conducted ocean testing of a prototype wave energy converter that produces compressed air for offshore aquaculture operations. Development work was funded by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and RME's project partners were Ocean Farm Technologies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Available Online: http://www.resolute-marine-energy.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ Pelamis Wave Power: Commercial Operations; New Funding; & a New Home On September 24, 2008, Manuel Pinho, Portugal's Economy Minister visited the Aguçadoura wave farm in a ceremony to officially inaugurate the project. He travelled to the site on the Portuguese Naval Frigate "Corte Real" where a helicopter was launched to film the Pelamis machines and the raising of the Portuguese flag on one of the machines. At the same time EDP and Efacec announced their intention to join Babcock and Brown and Pelamis Wave Power in the venture, the next phase of which will be to extend the project with a further 25 machines. On November 4, PWP announced the completion of a £5m funding round of funding. The fundraising will underpin our ongoing investment in core R&D and continuing development of our manufacturing processes and facilities. The additional finance will enable us to accelerate the build of the first of our next generation of wave energy converters, which will begin in our new Leith premises. Beginning January 5 2009, PWP will be located in a new manufacturing plant in Forth Port's Leith docks. The Bath Road facility comprises 7500 square metres of factory floor space and 2000 square metres of office space and will enable co-ordinated design, fabrication and assembly of PWP's next generation of Pelamis machines under one roof. The company's new address is: 31 Bath Road, Edinburgh EH6 7AH Available online: http://www.pelamiswave.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- OREC counsel Carolyn Elefant was quoted in the Providence Business Journal regarding the recent Grays Harbor preliminary permit at FERC for a hybrid offshore wind and wave energy project. For more information, click here - http://www.pbn.com/stories/36756.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE LIST KEEPS GROWING... OREC Corporate Members Alden Research Laboratory, Inc. Battery Ventures Beveridge & Diamond Central Lincoln People's Utility District Chadbourne & Park, LLP Current to Current Devine Tarbell Associates Ecology & Environment, Inc. Florida Atlantic University Hydro Green Energy Kleinschmidt Lockheed Martin Long Island Power Authority Marine Renewable Energy Laboratory University of Michigan Millbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, LLP Pierce Atwood, LLP Pelamis Wave Power Limited (Scotland) Reluminati Ocean Power Technologies Open Hydro (Ireland) Ocean Renewable Power Company Ocean Wave Energy Company Oregon Ironworks Oregon State University Pacific Gas & Electric Company Puget Sound Energy RenewableEnergyAccess.com Resolute Marine Energy, Inc. SAIC Scott M. Lindsay Consulting Simmons & Company International SMI, Inc. Snohomish Public Utility District Sound & Sea Technology, Inc. The Stella Group Stoel Rives, LLP Tacoma Power Teledyne RD Instruments TRC Companies, Inc. University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Verdant Power Wavebob, Ltd. WaveStar Energy (Denmark) Yakutat Power Strategic Partners Northwest Public Power Association RenewableEnergyAccess.com Scottish Development International Visit our member websites to see the latest in company news.