Pacific Gas & Electric has shared details about its proposed wave energy project off the coast of Vandenberg Air Force Base.
PG&E said the project could be operational by 2014.
PG&E has applied for a preliminary permit to study the feasibility of siting the Central Coast WaveConnect wave energy facility off the coast of Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.
The preliminary permit, if granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), would allow PG&E up to three years to study the offshore environment to determine whether the location might be appropriate for a wave energy facility. The permit would not authorise construction, exclusion, or any physical disturbance. These activities would only be authorised by the issuance of a FERC license as part of a separate public process.
The preliminary permit study area is located up to three nautical miles offshore, roughly between Point Arguello and Point Conception, in a location that minimises impacts to the environment and to existing ocean uses.
PG&E has a Memorandum of Understanding with Vandenberg Air Force Base to explore the feasibility of developing renewable energy for the area.
The Central Coast WaveConnect will be PG&E’s second proposed wave energy facility in California.
The Humboldt WaveConnect study site is an approximately 18-square statute mile rectangle located between two and three nautical miles off the Coast of Humboldt County. PG&E has been granted permission from FERC to conduct baseline environmental studies.
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