San Francisco Tests Wave Energy

BioPower Systems of Australia - a wave power company - has partnered with the City of San Francisco to investigate the generation of wave energy from the Pacific Ocean to light homes there. BioPower will work with the San Francisco Utilities Commission to assess the feasibility of a project located five miles off San Francisco's western beaches. The project will consider installing a wave farm that can generate between 10 and 100 MW.

BioPower's BioWAVET system is designed to supply utility-scale, grid-connected renewable energy while being out of view and without affecting marine life. The system sways in time with the forces of the ocean and streamlines when extreme conditions prevail. Multiple BioWAVET devices, each with a capacity of 1 MW, would be installed as an undersea wave energy farm with the combined power output supply to the on-land grid via subsea cable.