UVic engineers receive $1M boost to research ocean wave-generated electricity

A team of engineers at the University of Victoria who are working to harness electricity from ocean waves are getting a big financial boost.

UVic's Pacific Regional Institute for Marine Energy Discovery, or PRIMED, has received a $1-million grant from the 2022 TD Ready Challenge.

The program gives 10 recipients $1 million each for projects that assist people and communities disproportionately affected by climate change.

The funds will be used by PRIMED to create a renewable energy micro-grid for a remote coastal community on Nootka Island, B.C.

So far, the team has completed a resource assessment, modeled and measured wave activity, and is now ready for its next steps.

Those next steps involve selecting the type of technologies and infrastructure that will be used to turn ocean waves into electricity.

In the early 1900s, members of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation were forced off their land in Yuquot, off the central east coast of Vancouver Island, by the federal government.

Now, the hope is to create a power supply so the community can regrow.

PRIMED co-director Brad Buckham says having more details on the potential energy source will let the First Nation make informed choices on its future.

"The Mowachaht/Muchalaht people have ways of pursuing – if there's a detailed vision that's cemented in place, and a detailed plan that they believe in – there are ways to pursue building that," said Brad Buckham, PRIMED co-director.

"But it's getting to that detailed plan and eliminating a lot of the uncertainties around how renewable energy is going to provide a firm basis for their community," he said. 

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