Energy Dept. Designates Cal Poly Pier as Wave Energy Test Site

AVILA BEACH, Calif. — Extending 3,000 feet over the deep blue waters of San Luis Obispo Bay in California stands the Cal Poly Pier.

The facility has recently been designated an open water test site for industry evaluations of marine energy devices and systems by the U.S. Department of Energy. It is the first open-water research pier to receive the designation.

Research access to the Cal Poly Pier, located about 11 miles south of the California Polytechnic State University campus, will be available through the Testing Expertise and Access to Marine Energy Research Program, or TEAMER™, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office and directed by the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust.

As part of the program, the Cal Poly Pier offers collaborators open-water access from its marine research station in Avila Beach — among the first fixed-platform, open-ocean sites in the program. 

The Cal Poly Pier allows users to test equipment from an easily accessible, shore-based facility, without the expense and complications of ship time. 

According to Cal Poly, “It provides an excellent location to deploy and test equipment in semi-exposed conditions from a fixed platform. The pier is in a commercial harbor not associated with any special regulatory zones, with access to port infrastructure.”

The TEAMER program, first announced in March 2019, is designed to provide technology developers and researchers with access to U.S.-based facilities and technical expertise; the ultimate goal is to advance wave energy commercialization and leverage a largely untapped resource, the power of the sea.

TEAMER may allocate applicants’ funding support with the goal of accelerating innovative marine energy technology toward commercialization to help meet society’s needs.

While many of the nearly 50 facilities that comprise the nationwide network provide access to key laboratory or computational resources, the Avila Beach site is one of the few that provides users with direct access in the form of a drivable pier to the marine environment at a facility with convenient access for ocean research.

“The Cal Poly Pier is set up extremely well to test equipment from an easily accessible, shore-based facility without the expense and complications of chartering vessels,” said Ben Ruttenberg, director of Cal Poly’s Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, in a press release. 

“Organizations will be able to design their wave energy or other devices and test them easily. The pier is the perfect launching spot for that important (research and development) work.”

As a TEAMER site, the Cal Poly facility is expected to attract collaborators such as companies focusing on early stage research and development, as well as government organizations such as national labs and the U.S. Navy, with potential long-term benefits of new energy technology for remote areas.

“The Cal Poly Pier site marks an opportunity to learn more about how wave energy technology performs in ocean conditions, contributing to supporting the blue economy with clean energy jobs and a new ocean-related industry,” according to Cal Poly.

The World Bank defines the blue economy as the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.”

“This exciting announcement marks an opportunity for growth and moving marine energy forward,” said Dean Wendt, dean of Cal Poly’s Bailey College of Science and Mathematics. “Innovative technologies that can provide important, sustainable energy solutions will help provide needed infrastructure long into the future. The university’s marine science infrastructure is proud to play a role in supporting this invaluable research and development.”

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