The wave energy testing site on the Oregon coast
PacWave South, a wave energy testing site off the Oregon coast near Newport, held its ribbon cutting on August 27, 2026, after nearly 15 years of planning, permitting and construction. Oregon State University operates the site, built with 140 million dollars in federal funding. The site sits about 7 miles offshore and has 4 independently cabled test berths, separate slots where a device can be connected to the grid for testing, so up to 20 wave energy converters, machines that turn the rise and fall of ocean waves into electricity, can be tested there at once. Combined, the 4 berths can handle a maximum of 20 megawatts of power, and each berth alone can carry up to 5 megawatts. Power from any device tested there would reach shore through 4 subsea cables. One cable runs about 12 miles, and multiplying that by the 4 cables gives nearly 48 miles, the same combined length Oregon Public Broadcasting reports, a calculation this article ran to confirm the two published figures describe one measurement at 2 different scales, not 2 different distances.
The distance offshore and the combined length of all 4 cables come from Oregon Public Broadcasting, source 4. The length of 1 subsea cable comes from PacWave own South Test Site page, source 2. The 48 mile figure is the length of all 4 subsea cables added together, not a 4th separate distance.
Show the numbers
| Distance from shore to the site | 7 |
| Length of one subsea cable | 12 |
| Combined length of all 4 subsea cables | 48 |
The power deal already signed, before any power exists
The Bonneville Power Administration, the federal agency that sells electricity across the Pacific Northwest, signed an exclusive power purchase agreement, a contract to buy all the electricity produced, with Oregon State University in 2025. Under that agreement, the administration will buy every unit of electricity PacWave South generates during equipment testing. Central Lincoln, the public utility district that distributes power on the central Oregon coast, would carry that power to homes and businesses once it exists. Every part of that arrangement is already signed. Nichole Fitzgerald, director of the Department of Energy Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office, framed the facility this way.
The PacWave South facility will help reduce testing barriers for wave energy developers and spur innovation to America's benefit for years to come.
Nichole Fitzgerald, director, Department of Energy Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office. Source 1.
Nearly 10 years from selection to opening
The Department of Energy selected the PacWave site in December 2016. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that licenses energy projects like this one, issued PacWave South a 25 year operating license in March 2021, 5 years after selection. Oregon State University and the Bonneville Power Administration signed their power purchase agreement in 2025, 9 years after selection. The ribbon cutting itself came in August 2026, 10 years after selection.
A MAOWCE calculation. The Department of Energy selected the PacWave site in December 2016, source 3. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued its 25 year operating license in March 2021, source 2, 5 years later. Oregon State University and the Bonneville Power Administration signed their power purchase agreement in 2025, source 1, 9 years later. The facility held its ribbon cutting in August 2026, source 5, 10 years later.
Show the numbers
| Federal license issued | 5 |
| Power deal signed | 9 |
| Facility opened | 10 |
What has not started yet
None of that means power is flowing yet. No wave energy converter has been deployed at PacWave South, and Burke Hales, an Oregon State University oceanographer, a scientist who studies the ocean, says power generation is not expected to begin until 2027.
The disruption in the government funding and the funding of federal research put our contracted developers behind on their schedules.
Burke Hales, Oregon State University professor and oceanographer at PacWave. Source 5.
Disruption in federal research funding pushed back the 3 companies with Department of Energy funding that are lined up to test their devices there. Dan Hellin, director of PacWave, described what a visitor would actually see.
Even the largest wave energy devices that have ever been tested are only maybe 30 feet tall. Most of the structures are below the sea surface.
Dan Hellin, director of PacWave. Source 5.
The facility is built, licensed and contracted to power homes on the central coast. It has not done that yet.