Boaters back wave energy generator

By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
KAHULUI — At its first community presentation, the Oceanlinx wave energy proposal got a generally favorable response from the Maui Trailer Boat Club — especially when Oceanlinx representatives said they would be willing to help repair the deteriorated Maliko boat ramp.

“It would be our pleasure,” said Dr. Peter Kalish, a physician turned alternative energy promoter for the Australian company.

Kalish also told boaters at a meeting Tuesday in the Maui Electric Co. auditorium that the company’s planned wave energy generator would likely attract game fish when it is put in place a half mile off Pauwela Point along Maui’s north shore.

A prototype wave generator at Port Kembla, New South Wales, the floating generator proved to be “a magnificent FAD” — fish aggregating device, he said.

There are a number of FADs installed off Hawaii, devices moored three to eight miles offshore where small fish and crustaceans can breed, attracting big predator fish. The dedicated FADs are below the surface although marked by buoys.

The Oceanlinx machine will sit at the surface, although Kalish said the location chosen off Pauwela Point will not be visible from the highway or any residences in the neighborhood.

“I’ve got to congratulate you on the site choice, in the bay by the edge is much better,” said Capt. Brian Stewart, skipper of the excursion boat Prince Kuhio.

Stewart, who said he dives the area often, said the underwater topography is just right, while a short distance to the east it’s much more rugged.

There was a lot of interest in how the two (or possibly three) 90-by-30-foot, 450-ton generators will be moored.

Kalish said there would be four moorings (either anchors or grouted rings, depending on the seafloor), one off each corner of the machine.

They would be set well away, with the cables falling in catenary curves. This slack should allow the generator to move freely even in heavy swells.

Kalish said the design is intended to withstand even heavy swells. He showed a picture of the Port Kembla prototype in 17-meter (50 foot) swells.

That machine is moored close to shore to facilitate monitoring and tinkering, while the Maui machines will be about half a mile out in 90- to 120-foot depths.

In the 17-meter swell, the Port Kembla machine was actually caught in the break, but Kalish said the production models would not have to endure that.

Stewart recommended doubling up moorings on the seaward side, since if a machine ever did break loose in that location, it would drive ashore.

Kalish thanked him for the suggestion. He said Oceanlinx had had favorable responses in meetings with government officials and the Sierra Club, but “for us it’s more important to get the locals to create a working relationship.”

He said he didn’t mean to sound patronizing, but was sincere in saying that the boaters are the people with the intimate knowledge of the area.

The boaters raised the issue of the Maliko ramp, which is severely deteriorated, advising Kalish that it would need to be upgraded if his company intends to use it to launch boats involved in installing and maintaining the generators.

While Kalish said Oceanlinx would be willing to assist in repairing the ramp, the company has not discussed the situation with the state. A spokeswoman for the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation said Thursday there has been no contact with Oceanlinx on the Maliko ramp, “but we do plan to contact them and talk further.”

There were many questions about whether the wave generator would create a closed zone, or whether the boat traffic involved in setting it up would impact boaters.

Kalish said insurance requirements will force Oceanlinx to put up kapu signs on its generators, but that while the company doesn’t want people climbing on its property, it will welcome fishers and divers to come close.

“There is no danger,” he said. Even if a diver or a dolphin entered the entrance where the water enters, “nothing would happen.”

At the other end, where air is sucked in and blasted out, there will be a screen to keep out birds.

Kalish called the proposal a “BOO” — build, own, operate — which will not put a penny of electricity customers’ or taxpayers’ money at risk.

The installation cost is estimated at $20 million. Kalish said the company expects to sell about 20,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year to MECO. The price MECO would pay has not yet been negotiated.

Oceanlinx expects to lose money on the Maui device, its first commercial installation anywhere, Kalish said, because Oceanlinx will be at the beginning of its learning curve. He expects the capital cost per watt of capacity to decline as series production begins.

The Maui proposal is for two 1.5-megawatt units, but Oceanlinx also has a memorandum of understanding with the state of Rhode Island for a 20-megawatt installation off Point Judith.

The generators probably will be assembled in a Honolulu dockyard from sections fabricated somewhere in Asia and towed to Maui.

Oceanlinx intends to install two waveloggers off Pauwela as soon as weather permits. These will allow an assessment of the wave regime and how it changes with the seasons.

• Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.