West coast wave initiative
As the universal need to move from fossil fuel based energy sources to renewables grows, it is imperative that all renewable sources should be examined thoroughly. The power of ocean waves is a global resource that has a higher concentration than both wind and solar energy. Currently rough estimates of global available wave power are 1 TW near shore and 10 TW off shore. This compares very favourably when compared against the total world power consumption of approximately 10TW.
Sited at the University of Victoria, the West Coast Wave Initiative (WCWI) is a multi-disciplinary group of academics and industry members committed to quantitatively determining the feasibility, impacts and possible structure of wave energy conversion on the west coast of Canada. The group is developing industry leading wave energy resource assessment methods, numerical simulation tools for Wave Energy Converters (WEC) and numerical grid integration toolboxes to create the most accurate possible assessment of the feasibility of wave energy conversion in British Columbia.
WCWI members are continually striving to better understand the environment in which WEC function, the technological and social impacts of WEC development and the policy steps required to ensure wave energy conversion if thoroughly examined as we move towards more renewable and less harmful energy sources for future generations.