Economic Factors and Incentives for Ocean Wave Energy Conversion

Ocean energy conversion systems have recently seen renewed interest, stimulated mostly by today's increasing energy discussions. In addition to ocean current energy converters, several commercial ocean wave energy projects have already been undertaken; however, no clear economic model exists for developers to follow. Therefore, this paper focuses on U.S. economic factors that affect the use of wave power for generation of electric energy. These are addressed with regard to economic and business incentives for renewables and wave energy. This paper also investigates incentive programs needed to promote wave energy conversion technology.