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Panel: marine energy remains promising for Oregon though federal uncertainty slows projects
Summary
Pacific Marine Energy Center told the committee that wave and tidal energy represent a large technical resource for Oregon with potential for manufacturing and resilient power, but test centers and industry projects face stranded funds and approval delays tied to federal uncertainty.
Bryson Robertson, director of the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC) and professor of civil engineering at Oregon State University, told the committee that marine energy — including wave, tidal and river technologies — represents a large untapped renewable resource for Oregon and the U.S.
Robertson cited National Renewable Energy Laboratory assessments that quantify U.S. marine-energy resources in the thousands of terawatt-hours and said Oregon’s technical wave-energy resource alone could supply about 100 TWh per year (a number PMEC presented as an order-of-magnitude technical estimate). He noted continued federal support through DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office and recent positive steps, including PacWave moving toward operational approvals and a Bonneville Power Administration first-of-kind PPA with PacWave.
At the same time Robertson said federal uncertainty has left some university-led R&D funds stranded (he cited up to $5.5 million) and paused approvals for industry-led deployments, which disrupts the domestic supply chain and threatens workforce retention. Robertson urged continued federal and state support for R&D, test infrastructure and workforce programs to keep Oregon’s marine-energy leadership intact.
Committee members had no further questions for PMEC after the presentation and Chair Lively thanked panelists before adjourning the informational meeting.
