Friday, October 10, 2008

Cache & Packets

Ocean power renews interest in local techs

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

For an industry cluster with no commercial projects up and running and little revenue coming in, the local marine renewable energy community has had a busy couple of weeks.

Last week, many of the local cluster crowd ventured to Providence for the OceanTech Expo, mixing among the more traditional aquatic technology sectors such as marine robotics, unmanned vehicles and fisheries. Earlier this week,  the community could be seen in its own element at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Advanced Technology Manufacturing Center in Fall River, where the university’s Marine Renewable Energy Center held a kind of “state of the industry” event, and the next day at an “executive briefing” on the future of such technology at the British consulate, hosted by U.K. Trade and Investment.

The two latter events focused heavily on the local ocean renewable energy community’s desire to model itself after the cluster in the United Kingdom, which is recognized as the leader in the nascent industry.

New England has all the tools to become a leader in ocean renewable power, acknowledged representatives from the U.K.-based New and Renewable Energy Center Ltd. and other groups. Those tools include a history in maritime technology, a background in innovation, a coastline amenable to such tech and a university infrastructure capable of supporting a new industry.

But the rallying call heard throughout the discussions was the need for more funding. Indeed, with the scramble in the U.S. to put forth wind, solar and even biomass as potential providers of alternative, grid-connected power, ocean power has remained at the back of the line when it comes to funding. According to presenter Sean O’Neill, executive director of the Ocean Renewable Energy Council, wave and tidal power projects in the U.K. receive about 43 cents of subsidies for every kilowatt hour anticipated for pending deployments. In the U.S., that number is closer to 2 cents.

“We have to remember, oceans are a public resource (and as such) I would like to see more public money invested in research,” O’Neill told a crowd of about 100 at the ATMC. (Just six months ago, it should be noted, a similar event drew about half that.)

While the funding for local ocean power companies has certainly paled in comparison to wind and solar projects, there is hope. For example, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and the Maine Technology Institute, both quasi-public groups focused on funding new technology development, have put money (about $500,000 in total) into Ocean Renewable Power LLC, a Fall River-based maker of tidal power technologies which has a pilot facility in Maine. The company has also brought in $1 million in private funding from the Quercus Trust of California.

In addition, the state of Rhode Island has expressed interest in developing its own ocean power project, and last winter signed a deal with Australia’s Oceanlinx Ltd. with the aim of eventually generating 15 megawatts to 20 megawatts of power.

The buzz at the recent events was that ocean power is on the verge of becoming a player on the alternative energy landscape. Officials acknowledges there are still a number of challenges to overcome, including compiling proof-of-concept data to help grease the wheels of funding, but that the next 12 months could see the industry make its leap into the mainstream.

Ember glowing even brighter
Two weeks ago, in a story about the penetration of the ZigBee wireless standard and ZigBee chip maker Ember Corp. into automated meter reading applications, I mentioned two of the country’s most prominent proposed deployments — in Texas, where a Dallas utility has agreed to buy $360 million worth of smart meters for 3 million homes and small businesses, and in California, where Southern California Edison plans to replace 5.3 million standard meters with automated systems between 2009 and 2012. What I failed to mention was that Ember’s optimism in the market is bolstered by the fact that the company is actually involved in both of those projects through its technology partner, Washington-based Itron Inc.

Company executives and analysts tell me the inclusion of Ember’s technology the two bellwether projects puts it on the leading edge of the movement, and if the projects are successful, could open a host of new opportunities for the Boston-based company.