Abstract
Oceans cover two-thirds of the earth's surface and form the world's biggest and best – yet largely untapped – battery. Ocean waves have more energy density than other renewables, including wind, solar, and biomass, and have the potential to supply 4x the world's annual energy consumption (Masterson, 2022; Zic, 2020). In addition to the impact wave energy can have on decarbonizing and diversifying the electric grid, it offers a significant value proposition in the emerging blue economy sector (LiVecchi et al, 2019). The blue economy consists of industries operating offshore, including shipping, oil and gas, defense and security, aquaculture, and research. These industries require bringing people and energy on site to perform daily work, but current energy costs in the blue economy are extremely high. The prevailing processes are complex, including shore dependencies and fuel transportation logistics. Few alternatives for reliable power generation exist, with the most prominent being high cost and high carbon emissions diesel generation. Because of this lack of affordable, reliable power, the trends of electrification, digitization, and automation that have led to substantial innovation and improvements in the terrestrial economy over the last two decades are slow to come to the blue economy.
An Autonomous Offshore Power System (AOPS) provides a cost-effective power solution for the blue economy. An integrated system consisting of power generation, energy storage, asset management, and data communications, an AOPS can transform how industries operate in the ocean today. They can enable autonomous, digital, longer-residency assets and drive lower cost, complexity, and carbon-intensity.
The U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored PacWave South test site, slated to open off the Oregon coast in 2024, provides a critical test facility for AOPS technologies. The focus of this paper is the process of designing and building a third-generation AOPS for testing at PacWave South, incorporating lessons learned from three previous design, build, and test cycles.