PacWave South will be the first full-scale wave energy test facility in the US, turning offshore ocean waves into onshore renewable electricity
Jacobs led the engineering services for the HDD Company, the design-build contractor for the project.
PacWave South will allow 20 wave energy converters to be tested in open-sea conditions seven miles from Oregon’s coast.
Four offshore steel conduits up to 120 feet below the seafloor and extending a mile offshore are connected to five onshore high-density polyethene (HDPE) conduits.
They are installed using horizontal directional drilling (HDD) methods and connect to PacWave’s Utility Connection and Monitoring Facility.
PacWave South has received a National Recognition Award in the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) 2022 Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) competition.
Koti Vadlamud, Jacobs People & Places Solutions senior vice president, commented: “The engineering for this project was complex, requiring our team to overcome coastal geology challenges, working in the near-shore environment around sensitive coastal wetlands, and meeting a tight schedule to obtain regulatory approval.”
