Latest: Having completed tank testing in the Tsunami Wave Basin and the Long Wave Flume at Oregon State University, Columbia Power has deployed an intermediate scale prototype near Seattle--code named SeaRay. The device is tuned to the Puget Sound environment and is controlled remotely from Corvallis Oregon.  Sea trials (click here for video) will continue through the spring of 2011.

Opportunity: There is an estimated resource of 500 times the global demand for power available in the raw energy of the ocean and the practical potential for wave energy worldwide is projected to be between 2 and 4 trillion kilowatt hours per year. The World Energy Council estimates that about 10% of worldwide energy demand could be met by harvesting ocean energy.

Columbia Power Technologies, LLC is an independent company founded in 2005 by Greenlight Energy Resources, Inc. In partnership with Oregon State University, the company is engaged in the development and commercialization of  wave energy harvesting devices using novel, off-shore, direct-drive permanent-magnet generator topologies.

Greenlight Energy Resources, Inc. was formed by the principals of the Greenlight Energy, Inc. (GEI) following the sale of their wind energy company to BP Alternative Energy North America, Inc. (Press Release) At the time of the sale in 2006, GEI was one of the largest independent wind energy companies in the country with a 6,000 MW development pipeline comprised of large-scale wind energy projects in 15 states. By year-end 2007, over $700 million of wind energy facilities developed by GEI were operational, including a $500 million facility in Colorado being completed this year by BP.

Columbia’s management team combines energy industry, engineering, legal, and technology commercialization experience, and is well prepared to be a leader in the field of ocean energy.