PNNL

Abstract

Responsible deployment of marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) devices in estuaries, coastal areas, and major rivers requires that biological resources and ecosystems be protected through siting and permitting (consenting) processes. Scoping appropriate deployment locations, collecting pre-installation (baseline) and post-installation data add to the cost of developing MHK projects, and hence to the cost of energy. Under the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists have developed logic models that describe studies and processes for environmental siting and permitting. Each study and environmental permitting process has been assigned a cost derived from existing and proposed tidal, wave, and riverine MHK projects. Costs have been developed at the pilot scale, and for commercial arrays. This work is carried out under the U.S. Department of Energy reference model project, with the costs for engineering, deployment strategies, mooring and anchoring configurations, and maintenance operations, being developed by a consortium of Department of Energy national laboratories and universities. The goal of the reference model is to assist the MHK industry to become a cost-competitive contributor of renewable energy, by identifying those aspects of MHK projects that contribute significantly to the cost of energy, and directing research funding towards lowering those costs.