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.