Finavera

The day has finally arrived, and the AquaBuOY 2.0 is in the water! It’s an incredible sight to see. As I watched the deployment process from a nearby fishing boat (thanks to Phil and the crew from the Oceana), I was amazed at size of the wave energy converter. Up close, it is massive. But once it was deployed, it was dwarfed by the magnitude of the ocean.

This successful deployment would not have been possible without the hard work of a lot of people. I thought I would take the space here to personally thank them for their efforts, and this will give the public an idea of the work and organization that went into this deployment. Oregon Iron Works, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the crew of the Salvage Chief from Fred Devine Diving and Salvage, Marine Discovery Tours, the Oregon state government, the community of Newport, Oregon, and the local Fisherman’s Committee for their help and assistance in achieving this installation on schedule and with success.

It is also important to note the work of the Finavera Renewables team: Denis Letourneau, our technical lead who had many sleepless nights calculating flow rates and obsessing over check valves; Alla Weinstein, who has never given up the dream of ocean energy; Greta Geankoplis, who made sure the deployment was coordinated perfectly; Kevin Banister, who worked closely with the local community and fishermen; and to the rest of the gang who supported this effort in many different ways, great work!

Of course, the work is not done. This really does mark a beginning.