US energy department sets up new facility for ocean power development

A new US Department of Energy (DoE) research facility could help bring the US closer to generating power from the winds and waters along America's coasts and help alleviate a major hurdle for offshore wind and ocean power development.

Known as the Reference Facility for Offshore Renewable Energy, the facility will be used to test technologies such as remote sensing designed to determine the power-generating potential of offshore winds and waters.

Research at the facility will help verify that the technologies can collect reliable data and help improve those technologies. This knowledge provides potential investors confidence when reviewing offshore development proposals. Questions about the accuracy of offshore data from new measurement technologies have made some investors hesitant to back offshore energy projects.

Current plans are for the facility to be located at the Chesapeake Light Tower, a former Coast Guard lighthouse that is about 13 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virgionaia, in the United States.

Scientists representing industry, government and academia are likely to start research at the facility in 2015. The DoE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will shape and prioritise the research conducted there, while National Renewable Energy Laboratory will manage the facility's remodelling and operations.

PNNL will form an interagency steering committee to determine the facility's research priorities and procedures. Research will primarily focus on offshore wind, but will also include underwater ocean energy and environmental monitoring technologies.