Ecologists, inventors and investors will be watching for news off the Oregon coast this fall to see if a new form of alternative energy will move forward.

The latest development in renewable energy seeks to harness the power of ocean waves to produce electricity.

Off the coast of Reedsport, the first commercial wave-energy device is scheduled for launch. The hope is that the cannon-shaped device will generate enough energy to light 1,000 homes while floating in the ocean.

Ocean Power Technologies, the New Jersey company that built it, is also hoping the 260-ton invention will withstand winter storms and not sink.

Wave-energy technology is so new that there is no set design yet for this untested renewable energy.

Paul Klarin, leader of the current project, said some inventors have blueprints for devices that rest on the ocean floor or somewhere below the water’s surface. “There’s no one-size-fits-all kind of plan,” Klarin told The New York Times.

Meanwhile, near Newport, Oregon, a federally-funded wave energy mobile test facility was opened last month to allow various systems to be tried out. The Ocean Sentinel was developed by the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) at Oregon State University.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Project Aims to Harness the Power of Waves (by Kirk Johnson, New York Times)

NZ Wave Device First In At Oregon Test Center (by Pete Danko, Earth Techling)

Reedsport OPT Wave Park (Ocean Power Technologies)