Abstract
The promise of marine energy is, perhaps, as vast as the sea itself. From building coastal resilience to helping states meet their clean energy goals, this burgeoning technology is an exciting addition to our growing renewable energy toolbox.
A particularly compelling aspect of marine energy technology development is the scale of the marine energy resources in the United States and the close proximity to large electrical loads. Forty percent of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coast (U.S. Department of Energy n.d.). Moreover, the total marine energy technical resource in U.S. coastal waters is estimated to be 2,300 terawatt-hours per year, equivalent to 57% of the electricity generated by all 50 states in 2019 (Kilcher, Fogarty, and Lawson 2021).
However, despite its promise, the nascent marine energy industry could be better encouraged by establishing policy frameworks that address current development barriers and impacting its expansion and full deployment potential.
Therefore, to better understand the current U.S. marine energy policy landscape, the research team conducted a study of federal and state policies supporting renewable energy development and deployment.
Federal policy centers around the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) and subsequent memoranda of understanding signed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that better define jurisdictional boundaries for marine energy project approvals, leases, and licensing.
Two federal tax credits—the Production Tax Credit and the Investment Tax Credit—helped accelerate the deployment of solar and wind electricity generation by addressing financial challenges. The proliferation of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) and Clean Energy Standards—and the resulting renewable energy certificates they established—helped bolster the renewable energy markets state by state, securing project financial viability. A host of net metering laws proliferated, and continue to do so, paving the way for grid-connected renewable energy and its related compensation.
Focusing on California and Maine, the team completed a comparative analysis of their state-level marine energy policy efforts, identified gaps, and assessed how such approaches may or may not impact development of marine energy technologies. Among other findings, the research team drew two conclusions: marine energy policy may work best when tied to RPSs and transmission needs, and the associated policies to address them, are important for marine energy expansion.
The team identified several areas for potential further study:
• An exploration of increased coordination between marine and other renewable resources—such as offshore wind—and marine energy
• The potential benefits of co-location of marine energy projects with other ocean systems
• An economic analysis of the impacts of marine energy development on local economies
• An analysis of interconnection challenges and how microgrids might accommodate the onshoring of marine energy
• An analysis of potential marine energy permitting barriers and consideration of options to streamline the approach.
Over the past 20 to 30 years, federal- and state-level support for renewable energy technologies has helped spur the development of diversified renewable energy portfolio in the power sector , particularly in the context of wind and solar. Just as other forms of renewable energy generation benefitted from tailored funding and legislative support during their initial deployments and early-stage development, so too could marine energy technologies follow a similar trajectory alongside similar support.