Wave energy technology developer CalWave has been chosen as the technology provider for a wave energy project in Yuquot, British Columbia, Canada, with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN). Located on Nootka Island, Yuquot is the traditional home of the MMFN. The community was a center of fish and fur trading for thousands of years until the late 20th century when almost all residents were forced to relocate to Vancouver Island. Now, the MMFN is working to reclaim their land, rebuild their community, and use the energetic North Pacific waves to help power their new microgrid for energy independence.
The Indigenous-led project at Yuquot is funded by a grant from TD Bank Group and the Clean Energy in Rural and Remote Communities Program within Natural Resources Canada. The project includes a consortium of partners from across Canada, such as The Pacific Research Institute for Marine Energy Discovery (PRIMED) at the University of Victoria, Barkley Project Group, Canpac Marine Services, and Environmental Dynamics Inc. This project is a first-of-a-kind wave energy project for coastal community microgrids and may serve as a blueprint for other coastal communities along the North American Pacific Coast and beyond.
The MMFN project is currently in the feasibility and design phase to collect the necessary information for the MMFN to make an informed decision on the full project buildout. Azar Kamran, CEO of the MMFN, expressed the desire to establish Yuquot as a leader in innovation in community building and clean energy development. CalWave, a California-based wave energy technology developer and the chosen technology provider for the MMFN project, has a proven track record. The company was named a winner of the Wave Energy Prize by the U.S. Department of Energy in 2016 and has secured four R&D contracts from the DOE Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO). CalWave has already demonstrated its first open-ocean system offshore of San Diego, California, and is contracted to deploy its first utility grid-connected system at the 20 MW PacWave test site off the central Oregon coast.