Marine Energy

CalWave to provide technology for British Columbia wave energy project

CalWave to provide technology for British Columbia wave energy project
(photo courtesy CalWave)

Wave energy technology developer CalWave has been selected as technology provider for a wave energy project at Yuquot, British Columbia, Canada, with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN).

Located on Nootka Island, just off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Yuquot is the traditional home of the MMFN. The community existed for thousands of years as a center of fish and fur trading until the late 20th century, when almost all residents were forced to relocate to Vancouver Island.

Now, the MMFN is working to reclaim their land, rebuild their community and harness the energetic North Pacific waves to help power their new microgrid and establish energy independence.

The Indigenous-led project, funded so far by a grant from TD Bank Group and the Clean Energy in Rural and Remote Communities Program within Natural Resources Canada, includes a consortium of other partners based across Canada: The Pacific Research Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) at the University of Victoria, Barkley Project Group, Canpac Marine Services and Environmental Dynamics Inc.

As a “first-of-a-kind” wave energy project for coastal community microgrids, the MMFN project may serve as a blueprint for coastal communities along the North American Pacific Coast and around the world, CalWave said. The project is in a feasibility and design phase to gather all the necessary information for the MMFN to make an informed decision on full project buildout.

“This village was a trade hub, a place of great wealth sought after by our European visitors,” said Azar Kamran, CEO of the MMFN. “Moving forward we want to establish Yuquot as a center once more, now in the context of setting examples for innovation in community building and clean energy development.”

CalWave is a California-based wave energy technology developer that was named a winner of the Wave Energy Prize by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2016. The company has secured four R&D contracts from the DOE Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO). CalWave demonstrated its first open-ocean system offshore of San Diego, Calif., in 2021 and 2022 and is contracted by DOE to deploy its first utility grid-connected system at the 20 MW PacWave test site off the central Oregon coast.