Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009: Profile - Dr. John Huckerby

We’re in the final countdown towards the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009. In anticipation, we’re running a series of mini-profiles of our OREC members who will be moderating our conference panels to give you a sense of the quality and substance that we intend to deliver.

Dr. John Huckerby
Chairman of IEA, OES
President of AWATEA

What changes have you noticed in the industry since the time that you began working in the field until now?
Increasing interest in the media, increasing numbers of participants, increasing number of devices under development

How do you see the  marine renewable industry helping our economy?
Utilizing existing industry capacity – manufacturing, engineering, offshore services, fishing  - to service new project deployments, creating new jobs and requiring new skills and capabilities

What do you find most exciting about the marine renewables industry?
The possibility that new sustainable, renewable, reliable, clean and available energy resources may be utiltized.

What, in your opinion, are the top two to three developments needed to bring marine renewables to commercialization?
Extended deployments to demonstrate, capacity factors, reliability, O & M costs.  Confirmation that environmental effects are limited and can be managed.

What are your predictions for the marine renewables industry over the next 3-5 years?
The first commercial wave and tidal stream array deployments; increasing numbers of permits, the spread of Government initiatives to support marine energy deployments, new countries developing devices and projects;  the first serious public concerns about environmental effects.

John Huckerby is the founder and Executive Officer of the Aotearoa Wave and Tidal
Energy Association (AWATEA), a marine energy industry association formed in April 2006. He is the current Chairman of the International Energy Agency’s Ocean Energy Systems Executive (IEA:OES) and he is also NZ’s representative to the International Electrotechnical Commission’s TC114, a technical committee set up to establish technical, environmental and performance standards for marine energy.

Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009: Profile - Robert W. Thresher, PhD, PE

We’re in the final countdown towards the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009.  In anticipation, we’re running a series of mini-profiles of our OREC members who will be moderating our conference panels to give you a sense of the quality and substance that we intend to deliver.

Robert W. Thresher, PhD, PE

What changes have you noticed in the industry since the time that you began working in the field until now?
In a few short years the industry has moved from the conceptual design of ocean renewable energy devices to building and testing of prototype systems.  It has always been my experience that talking about a new technology is easy, but actually putting systems in the water is hard work and costs a lot of money.  We see that happening right now.

How do you see the marine renewable industry helping our economy?
The development of new technology and new ways of generating our electricity is exciting and it creates new
opportunities, jobs, and investment, as well as reducing the outflow of U.S. dollars to oil producing counties.

What, if anything, makes the marine renewables industry different from other industries that you’ve worked with?
I have worked on wind technology for the past 30 years, so at least in my case; I see more similarities than
differences.  Marine renewables seem to me to be very similar to wind energy in its first stage of deployment.

What do you find most exciting about the marine renewables industry?
The most exciting thing to me is that nobody knows what a really successful ocean energy machine looks like.  The fun is in the challenge of figuring it out!

What, in your opinion, are the top two to three developments needed to bring marine renewables to commercialization?
My top three developments needs for marine renewables are to:
1.    Develop mathematical simulation models of the intuitively most promising marine generating systems and see what it tells us about their potential
2.    Get some machines in the ocean and under testing, and then take data on their real performance and
responses to check our models.  Some machines will fail and some will be successful, but we will learn.
3.    Measure the environmental impacts as we begin testing to learn how to avoid and minimize any measured impacts early in the development cycle of marine energy systems.

What are your predictions for the marine renewables industry over the next 3-5 years?
I predict the success of two or three different types of marine generators, but the success will be built on learning from failures, along the pathways to success.

Dr. Robert Thresher, longtime director of the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), was appointed to the position of NREL Wind Energy Research Fellow on April 1, 2008. As the former Director of the National Wind Technology Center, Dr. Thresher was Internationally recognized as a visionary, leader and architect of the national wind energy agenda.

Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009: Profile - Elizabeth R. Butler

We’re in the final countdown towards the Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference 2009 .  In anticipation, we’re running a series of mini-profiles of our OREC members who will be moderating our conference panels to give you a sense of the quality and substance that we intend to deliver.

Elizabeth R. Butler
Partner
Pierce Atwood LLP

What changes have you noticed in the industry since the time that you began working in the field until now?
Ms. Butler: 1. More money has been promised for support of marine renewable energy R&D through federal and state governmental programs. But there is less private sector investment funding due to the economic downturn.  (Swift implementation of public sector funding programs is critical to advancing the industry).
2. There is an increasing understanding among many stakeholders that a collaborative approach is needed to develop marine renewable energy resources on the accelerated timeline needed to protect our environment and our national security.
3. There are an increasing number of public-private partnerships to support marine renewable sector R&D and coastal zone demonstration projects.

How do you see the  marine renewable industry helping our economy?
Ms. Butler: The marine renewable industry is critical to our national security and to protection of our environment - both of which are critical to our economy.  In addition, the marine renewable sector will drive tremendous new growth in the related manufacturing, construction, and clean energy fields.  Finally the marine renewable industry, along with land-based renewables, opens the opportunity to design a more efficient transmission system and a more rational demand-side management system that will make our economy more productive.

What, if anything, makes the marine renewables industry different from other industries that you’ve worked with?
Ms. Butler: The broad range of participants from many different nations and backgrounds, often working ininternational partnerships to solve a common problem.

What do you find most exciting about the marine renewables industry?
Ms. Butler: While the marine renewables industry will face the same multiple use conflicts that fisheries, aquaculture,  navigation, tourism , or extractive uses encounter in the shared space of the oceans, there is potential to minimize the conflicts through a collaborative approach and a shared mission to reduce our dependence on non-North American petroleum supplies.

What, in your opinion, are the top two to three developments needed to bring marine renewables to commercialization?
Ms. Butler: 1.  Adequate public sector money to support R&D development through commercialization
2. Interconnection and transmission grid planning and reconstruction to support new marine renewable project loads.
3. Development of collaborative working arrangements among federal, state, and local regulatory authorities, as well as scientifically sound and economically rational standard permitting conditions for development, where possible to avoid additional friction time and costs in development.

What are your predictions for the marine renewables industry over the next 3-5 years?
Ms. Butler: R&D Demonstration sites will be sited along the US coastlines in near and deepwater marine environments. More international partnerships will be formed in order to expedite R&D development
Integrated wind and marine hydrokinetic test sites will be developed, with longer term addition of offshore
aquaculture facilities.
Several near-shore wind farms and several commercial scale tidal power sites will be constructed within five years. There will be increasing focus on use of marine renewable sources of power to service coastal populations, rather than shipment of power from mid-western renewable power sources.

Ms.  Butler  is  a  partner  in  the  corporate and international practice groups of Pierce Atwood  LLP,  a  law  firm with  offices  in Portland and Augusta, Maine, Portsmouth, New  Hampshire,  Boston,  Massachusetts, and Washington, DC.   She has over thirty years  of experience with    legislative, regulatory  and   policy  issues controlling   marine   renewable  energy projects.

OREC Position Cited in New York Times Coverage of FERC MMS Dispute

The New York Times twice turned to OREC this week for commentary on the MMS/FERC jurisdictional dispute.  In this piece, Surf Battle Generates Fear of Ocean Squatting , Carolyn Elefant, counsel to OREC was quoted as saying:
Preliminary permits are easy to get, and that can lead to “a lot of gamesmanship” in areas known to have good energy prospects, said Carolyn Elefant, a lawyer with the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition.
“There are a lot of people who have these visions of flipping sites, selling sites, jumping claims and making people buy them off,” she said. “It’s the Wild West.”

Later that day, following the MMS and FERC announcement of an agreement to resolve the disputes, Sean O’Neill was quoted in the New York Times piece Agencies End Feud on Offshore Projects.

Sean O’Neill of the Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition also praised the agreement. The group prefers a memorandum of understanding over a legislative resolution, saying it would allow for better flexibility.

Breaking News: FERC and MMS Announce Agreement on Offshore Renewable Energy Development

On March 17, 2009, FERC and MMS announced an agreement to resolve the jurisdictional disputes which have stymied offshore renewables development.  We’ve included the Press Release at the end of this post.  Over the years, OREC and its members’ consistently supported a negotiated resolution of the MMS/FERC dispute and we are gratified that the agencies have agreed to this approach.  While the final details of the resolution are not in place, we remain optimistic.

To view the briefing paper that FERC provided to Hill staff, click here

FERC/MMS Press Release Below

Interior and FERC Announce Agreement on Offshore Renewable Energy Development

WASHINGTON, DC – In a joint statement issued today Secretary of the Interior (DOI), Ken Salazar and Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Jon Wellinghoff announced that the two agencies have confirmed their intent to work together to facilitate the permitting of renewable energy in offshore waters.

“Our renewable energy is too important for bureaucratic turf battles to slow down our progress.  I am proud that we have reached an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding our respective roles in approving offshore renewable energy projects.  This agreement will help sweep aside red tape so that our country can capture the great power of wave, tidal, wind and solar power off our coasts,” Secretary Salazar said.

“FERC is pleased to be working with the Department of the Interior and Secretary Salazar on a procedure that will help get renewable energy projects off the drawing board and onto the Outer Continental Shelf,” Acting FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said.

Below is the joint Statement between DOI and FERC signed by Secretary Salazar and Acting Chairmain Wellinghoff:

JOINT STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR AND THE ACTING CHAIRMAN OF THE FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

The United States has significant renewable energy resources in offshore waters, including wind energy, solar energy, and wave and ocean current energy.

Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Minerals Management Service, has the authority to grant leases, easements, and rights-of-way on the outer continental shelf for the development of oil and gas resources.   The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to provide the Interior Department with parallel permitting authority with regard to the production, transportation, or transmission of energy from additional sources of energy on the outer continental shelf, including renewable energy sources.

The Interior Department’s responsibility for the permitting and development of renewable energy resources on the outer continental shelf is broad.   In particular, the Department of the Interior has permitting and development authority over wind power projects that use offshore resources beyond state waters.

Interior’s authority does not diminish existing responsibilities that other agencies have with regard to the outer continental shelf.   In that regard, under the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the statutory responsibility to oversee the development of hydropower resources in navigable waters of the United States. “Hydrokinetic” power potentially can be developed offshore through new technologies that seek to convert wave, tidal and ocean current energy to electricity.   FERC will have the primary responsibility to manage the licensing of such projects in offshore waters pursuant to the Federal Power Act, using procedures developed for hydropower licenses, and with the active involvement of relevant federal land and resource agencies, including the Department of the Interior.

We have requested our staffs to prepare a short Memorandum of Understanding that sets forth these principles, and which describes the process by which permits and licenses related to renewable energy resources in offshore waters will be developed.

Secretary of the Interior
Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

OREC Requests Additional Funding from DOE for Marine Renewables

On Tuesday, March 10th, members of the House of Representatives sent this letter to DOE Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu seeking $250 million in stimulus funding for marine renewables.  The letter was sent following requests from OREC asking for congressional support for additional marine renewables funding. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.

OREC Releases Case for Funding

OREC recently released a Case for Funding.  To view it click here.

Background on FERC-MMS Juridictional Dispute

In the next week, we may see Congressional hearings on how to resolve the FERC-MMS jurisdictional dispute on the Outer Continental Shelf.  The Congressional Research Service issued this paper on the topic in October 2008 (click here) and our counsel, Carolyn Elefant wrote an extensive post on the topic at her Renewables Offshore Weblog. Here’s the introduction:

As I remember, the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which authorized the Mineral Management Service to lease property on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for alternative energy projects, were intended to clarify who’s the boss on the Outer Continental Shelf. Before EPAct of 2005, it wasn’t one hundred percent clear how companies like Cape Windcould acquire definitive property rights for siting projects on the OCS and the new law closed that gap.

Except…in closing one gap, EPAct 2005 created another question about which agency, FERC or MMS (or both) have the power to authorize wave or tidal projects on the OCS. Without any further guidance from Congress, FERC and MMS have been duking it out ever since….Read on by clicking here .