Waveplam

Portugal has a vast extension of maritime territory covering more than 1.700.000 km2, corresponding to one of the largest exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the European Continent. This fact, together with a good wave energy resource and the large energy dependency of the country may be the major drivers for the dedication of Portuguese scientist to wave energy exploitation studies for more than three decades.

The increasing interest in wave energy over the last years with a rapidly rise of enterprises willing to invest in this field had in Portugal one of its focal points. In 2003 a group of 10 mainly Portuguese entities, comprising companies, universities and a R&D institute formed the Wave Energy Centre (WavEC). One year later this private non profit association has started a preliminary study Potential and Strategy for the Development of Wave Energy in Portugal. This study showed that the Western coast of Portugal offers very favourable conditions to the exploitation of wave energy and pointed out possible conflicts zones and also possible concession areas for wave energy farms.

Legislation actions as cornerstone for large-scale implementation

Following its study, WavEC started to promote the possibility of delimiting a dedicated maritime area for the exclusive use of wave energy conversion in its pre-commercial phase. Initial discussions with governmental representatives then led to raise awareness and wave energy was included in the National Ocean Strategy (Resolution of the Council of Ministers no.169/2005, 24 October) and the National Energy Strategy (Resolution of the Council of Ministers no.163/2006, 12 December). Further, a National task group was installed comprising representatives of several relevant institutions, putting forward a proposal for a legislative framework and the location of such a dedicated area for wave energy exploitation (Joint dispatch no. 324, 10 April 2006.

In January of 2008 the Decree-Law nr. 5/2008 adopted the resolution, and formalised the regulation of the Portuguese Pilot Zone for the installation of wave energy devices offshore São Pedro de Moel, with a total area of 320 km2 at water depths between 30 and 90 m, and an estimated installed capacity of 250 MW (planned in two steps: 80MW + 170MW). Although the Decree-Law was approved in May, no significant activities were possible since then due to the lack of definition of some essential aspects. The Concession of the Pilot Zone is given to a Managing Body, and the process to name the entity taking over this responsibility took very long. It is now known that the National Electricity body REN – Rede Eléctrica National will be responsible for the undertaking, however the formal appointment by the government has not been published by December 2008.

The Pilot Zone (PZ) is meant to guarantee simplified and fast licensing and permitting through the Managing Body, who will also identify and promote the setting-up of offshore corridors and promote the construction and maintenance of the electrical required infra-structures. A GIS with relevant environmental and geophysical data of the PZ can be consulted by any interested party.

Among the major objectives is to incentivise the installation of wave energy converters in its early stage of development and increase the possibilities of participating in the installation of wave energy devices, as well as possibly in the technological development coming along with this. This approach is one of the cornerstones of the National strategy of setting up a national cluster with technical-scientific know-how in this area.

The main instrument to attract technology and project developers will be a favourable feed-in tariff, which is divided into 3 different stages: technology demonstration (up to 4 MW per technology or 20 MW national; tariff approximately 25-26 c€/kWh), pre-commercial (up to 20 MW per technology or 100 MW national; tariff in range of 16-21 c€/kWh, dependent on project) and commercial (beyond 20 MW per technology; bidding process; range from 10-16 cEUR/kWh up to 100MW national or 300 W global, then decreasing stepwise).

Once the management body is officially assigned and takes up business, a detailed environmental characterization of the Pilot Zone is being proposed by a consortium led by WavEC, whereas the construction of infra-structures on land will be directly dealt with by the management body. The exact modus for the large investment required for the subsea cable and offshore infrastructure is not yet revealed, however it has been stated that in general the management body is required to run the pilot zone on a commercial basis.

A quick response of the government in order to avoid further delays, as well as no hesitations to provide the large investments required for a proper set-up for the pilot zone are by many seen as the key factors to enable first deployments by 2011, which is already a very tight time frame. If this benchmark is hit, the Portuguese pilot zone is likely to be a valuable instrument to accelerate wave energy deployment in its pre-commercial phase. If however the rhythm observed in the past maintains, the project might rather turn out to be an obstacle for further development, due to the level of uncertainty it would create in such a situation.

Map of Portugal - Pilot Zone area