It has been highlighted that the development of wave energy is most likely to be focused in areas along the Pacific Northwest or off the coast of Hawaii.
A survey of available data on Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Resources and identification of data gaps in the US has underlined that although several wave power technologies are continuing to develop, there are four basic applications that could potentially be deployed on the OCS.
These are: point absorbers, attenuators, overtopping devices, and terminators.
The report, referring to estimates from the EPRI, mentioned that there is a significant resource—about 2,100 terawatt hours per year (TWh/y)—of gross wave energy potential along the U.S. coastline, with over 75 percent of the available wave energy potential located in the waters off Alaska and Hawaii. From that gross total, EPRI estimates about 255 TWh/yr could realistically be harnessed. These estimates are only preliminary, and they have yet to be validated, but they are the best estimates that exist to date.
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