Every year thousands of surfers flock to the seaside city of Cornwall, England to catch some of the best waves in the U.K. But the surfers aren’t the only one’s who have noticed Cornwall’s swells. Recently engineers have been looking to the same place to install a wave power plant.

The popularity of Cornwall’s waves is causing tension between the surfing community, which traditionally sides with environmentalists, and some scientists, engineers, and government groups who want to develop wave power plants to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. Some surfers there say that the wave power systems could ruin the surfing industry because waves will be smaller and fewer people will come to the area.

“There are lots of places where wave power can be exploited where it doesn’t have to have an adverse affect on the surfing economy.” says John Baxendale of A1 Surfing, a website for surfers and surfing businesses in the UK. “It’s a matter of common sense.”

One of the reasons for the recent interest in wave power plants is the European Union’s goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, and wave power could help reach that objective. The project proposed in Cornwall, called Wave Hub, could generate up to 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 3 percent of Cornwall’s energy needs. The project is also expected to save more than 23 kilotons of carbon dioxide each year. Four different systems are included in the proposal, but project leaders don’t expect waves to be significantly affected.

“There isn’t at the moment widespread knowledge of how the industry would affect the waves,” says project manager Nick Harrington. The South West of England Regional Development Agency, the group developing the project, commissioned an independent report by Kerry Black, a surfer and renowned oceanographer in response the surfing community’s concerns. “My belief now is that there will be no discernable impact, but I’m waiting to see if [the surfers] agree with that now,” says Harrington.

British surfers aren’t the only ones who are involved in decisions about wave power plant proposals. Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski has spoken out in support of wave power, and the surfing community there wants to have a seat at the negotiating table, too.

Last year, Ocean Power Technologies, Inc., the first publicly listed wave power company  filed the first permit in the U.S. to install a commercial scale wave power plant in Reedsport, a town on the Oregon coast. There, OPT hopes to supply 50 MW of wave power with its trademarked PowerBuoy technology, which uses the up and down motion of the waves to create energy. There are also other proposals from companies and state and local governments.

“Not all surf spots are created equal, and Oregon has hundreds of miles of coastline. Some places are better than others for surfing,” says Peter Stauffer of the Surfrider Foundation. “Our hope would be to advocate for the wave parks not being sited directly in front of a popular surf spot.”

Stauffer says Surfrider is not just looking out for surfers; it’s also interested in making sure that the projects mitigate negative impacts to the ecology and public safety.

As researchers, engineers, and governments continue to develop renewable energy technologies like wave power plants, more surfing communities could be affected—and it isn’t likely that the question of who owns the waves will be answered any time soon.

For now, the Cornwall project is moving forward. Kerry Black’s report is currently being reviewed by the British Surfing Association and Wave Hub before it is released to the public next week.

Posted on Apr 23, 2007 at 5:20 PM
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