Free Flow Energy Awarded Wave and Current Energy Contract from Minerals Management Service

Free Flow Energy (FFE), Inc., an engineering consulting firm focusing on the development and implementation of wave, tidal, and ocean/river current energy resources, was recently awarded a contract from the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the U.S. Department of the Interior to assess the design and inspection criteria and standards for wave and current energy generating devices. 

Sponsored by the MMS Office of Offshore Regulatory Programs, the nine-month project will support the MMS and other government agencies in enacting regulations that will both protect national interests in the outer continental shelf (OCS) region and establish a safe working environment.  During the nine-month project, FFE will perform a gap analysis to outline how to modify regulations and standards to enable the development of wave- and current-driven devices on the OCS.

FFE Principal Investigator Normand Laberge, Ph.D., P.E., will oversee the project, which will include gathering and evaluating basic engineering information pertinent to existing and evolving wave and current energy technologies, surveying existing safety and regulatory topics, and assessing best practices of marine-based industries along the U.S. OCS and abroad.

A Speculative Environment

At present, the majority of ocean energy activity is driven by speculation. Hydrokinetic energy resources are being pursued by applicants in advance of proven hardware and even without confirmed professional competence, financial backing, and technical due diligence. Technologies are rapidly emerging for the conversion of wave, tidal, and current energy; yet many remain unproven.

Little is known about the performance and impact of marine renewable energy hardware once it is implemented in a marine environment – such as safety, environmental impact, efficiency, resilience/durability, maintenance, and structural integrity – and few site developers have site installation experience to draw from.  In particular, because most in-water experimentation to date has been near shore, information on the performance and impact of renewable energy hardware in the 1.7 billion acres of the OCS managed by the MMS is lacking. 

MMS Marine Renewable Efforts in the OCS

With the programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and Leasing Program, MMS has begun to apply an orderly process to understanding ocean energy environmental impact, resource assessment, and technology testing so it can responsibly manage hydrokinetic energy development activities on the OCS.

In an effort to develop a sound and safe regulatory regime, MMS issued a Broad Agency Announcement in February 2008, soliciting white papers aimed at overseeing the development of alternative energy and other projects along the OCS. FFE submitted a white paper – "Assess the Design/Inspection

Criteria/Standards for Wave and/or Current Energy Conversion Devices" – and was invited by MMS to submit a full proposal based on that document.