August 25,2014
Dynegy, the company that owns the mothballed Morro Bay natural gas power plant,has applied for a permit with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on July 22,2014 to pursue the Estero Bay Wave Project. The Houston-based company’s application says “first, under a demonstration phase, Dynegy plans to deploy a single approximately 1-megawatt (MW) GWAVE Power Generating Vessel (wave energy converter or WEC).
Second, under a potential commercial license, Dynegy plans to deploy 10 to 16 approximately 1-MW WEC’s. Third, Dynegy plans to seek authorization to deploy additional WEC’s with a total installed capacity of 650 MW” the application states. That is about the power capacity of 2 units at the Morro Bay power plant that was shut down earlier this year. (Two other long shuttered units would put the nameplate total capacity at 1056MW.)
That is not by accident. Dyngey has the exclusive use of 650MW “injection rights” through their company switchyard behind the current power plant. A preliminary permit would allow the company three years of exclusivity to look at the project’s feasibility followed by another application if the plan is deemed feasible.
The application says two or more high voltage submarine cables would transmit power to shore, interconnecting with Pacific Gas and Electric’s switchyard facilities at Morro Bay. The requested project boundary comprises approximately 2.73 square nautical miles (1.0-mile-wide by 2.73-miles-long) of coastal waters and lands located along the coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, near the town of Morro Bay.
The notice says the permit holder would be given priority to file a license application during the permit term.” A preliminary permit does not authorize the permit holder to perform any land disturbing or construction activities or to otherwise enter upon lands or waters owned by others without the owners’ express permission.”
The FERC application says interested parties have 60 days to comment on the plan putting the deadline in late September.
Another company Archon had applied to do a wave project in the same waters but was turned down by FERC allowing the Dynegy project to progress to this next level.”We believe they influenced our application with the FERC” says president Paul Grist noting the agency turned down Archon’s February permit request about a month ago.
Paul Grist says their company is still interested in pursuing a wave project but adds there are substantial hurdles the industry still faces.
“The world’s largest wave project scheduled for the coast of Australia by Ocean Power Technologies has been canceled and this has dampened enthusiasm for quick commercial application” says Grist.
A lawsuit is pending from stock buyers who say Ocean Power did not tell the whole story when they offered their stock.
“The plaintiff that defendants may have misstated the nature and/or circumstances of an agreement between the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and Victorian Wave Partners Pty Ltd related to a planned wave power station project off the coast of Australia, that the renewable energy project off the Australian coast was not commercially viable, and that as a result, defendants’ statements concerning the Victorian Wave Partners project, and positive statements about Ocean Power Technologies Inc’s business, operations and prospects, were allegedly materially false and misleading or lacked a reasonable basis” says a filing.
Grist claims Archon still wants to work off the Morro Bay coast but anyone who tries to do it faces 2 to 3 years of work to test it. Another hurdle is the lack of a federal tax credit for renewable wave and wind power technology that is pending in Congress.
Dyngey will use the New England-based GWAVE LLC technology developed by Glenn L. Beane. The US Patent Office shows a filing of an April 2014 patent.
Deadline for filing comments, motions to intervene, competing applications (without notices of intent), or notices of intent to file competing applications: 60 days from the issuance of this notice. Competing applications and notices of intent must meet the requirements of 18 CFR 4.36. Comments, motions to intervene, notices of intent, and competing applications may be filed electronically via the Internet. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission’s Web site (http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/ferconline.asp) under the “eFiling” link.
For a simpler method of submitting text only comments, click on “Quick Comment.” For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov; call toll-free at (866) 208-3676; or, for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659. Although the Commission strongly encourages electronic filing, documents may also be paper-filed. To paper-file, mail an original and 5 copies to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE., Washington, DC 20426.
More information about this project, including a copy of the application, can be viewed or printed on the “eLibrary” link of Commission’s Web site at http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/elibrary.asp. Enter the docket number (P-14585) in the docket number field to access the document