After receiving word on Friday that the project permits had been issued, we worked hard over the weekend to connect the PowerPod with the Hull. Now that the primary device components are joined, the NREL team is busy installing the instrumentation system. We've reached some major milestones in the last few days, but there's still plenty to do and we're not slowing down anytime soon! We'll continue to send updates as we near deployment, but please remember these emails are intended for team use only; if there is someone you would like to include on the distribution, just let us know and we will add them to the list.
Best Regards from your Deployment Team:
Justin Klure Steve Kopf Patrick Branje
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NZ Meets OR in Gold Medal Round
48 Bolts Declared Torqued!
The final round of Olympic bolt torqueing was held this weekend at the Port of Toledo for the fusion of the Hull and PowerPod. Friday marked the beginning of the match with the best of Oregon meeting face-to-face with the tried and proven Kiwi. Friendly competition ensued and, after a few bruised knuckles and some tired shoulders, an unprecedented tie was declared. The prize? A united Hull and PowerPod!
 
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Federal and State Permits Secured
Authorizations in Place for Deployment
Both the Nationwide Permit from the US Army Corp of Engineers and the Temporary Use Authorization from the Oregon Department of State Lands have been issued for this summer's wave energy test. In addition, the Oregon Department of Land, Conservation and Development issued the Coastal Zone Management Act Consistency Certification for the project, marking the completion of the permitting process. These authorizations, as well as the environmental consultations that were completed at the beginning of August, are required to deploy the WET-NZ, Ocean Sentinel, TriAXIS buoy and all associated mooring equipment at the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center's ocean test site.
We'd like to give special thanks to the Corp of Engineers, National Marine Fisheries Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of State Lands, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, and Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife for their efforts in working with NNMREC-OSU and NWEI to successfully complete the permitting process.
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MOIS Installation Underway
Eric Nelson and his team from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) arrived late Saturday night, and by Sunday morning they were hard at work installing the Modular Offshore Instrumentation System (MOIS) on the WET-NZ. Designed for both centralized and distributed I/O, processing, and control, MOIS can integrate measurements from both the WET-NZ and its mooring system. This specialized instrumentation system has been field-proven in numerous marine applications, including recent testing of an offshore wind turbine in Norway. A special thanks to Dr. Rick Driscoll and all of the staff at NREL for organizing this critical part of the WET-NZ ocean testing.
A team of instrumentation experts and certified LabView programmers leveraged decades of wind and marine system field testing, along with international standards, to create MOIS. The system is built on National Instruments PXI and cRIO hardware and uses the LabVIEW software to implement object-oriented software architecture with individual modules for separate functions and measurements. This design yields a modular and scalable infrastructure that enables rapid customization in a pick-and-place methodology to meet changing measurement needs.
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Weather Outlook
Fog, Wind, and Waves
Fog, wind, and waves were in abundant supply this weekend, just as the weatherman projected. Thick fog wrapped the coast, while just seven miles inland the deployment crew enjoyed blue skies and temperature in the 80s, making for perfect weather to continue assembly of the WET-NZ. The forecast for the next few days is continued northerly winds of 20-25 knots and a northwesterly swell 5 to 7 feet. The forecast for the end of the week is for subsiding seas and winds, but- as we all know- the weather is always subject to change. One thing that is certain is that we're paying close attention and planning our deployment for the optimal weather window.
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Please note that these updates are intended for team use only, so please do not forward outside your organization. If there is someone you would like to include on the distribution, please let us know and we will add them to the list.
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National Weather Service Synopsis
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Offshore high pressure and a thermal trough near the coast will make for strong north winds and heavy seas through Wednesday evening. The trough will weaken slightly Wednesday, and winds and seas will diminish more significantly Thursday.
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Ocean Conditions
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Station 46050
20 nm West of Newport
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Wave Ht 6 ft
Avg Period 5.5 s
Wave Dir NNW
Wind Sp 13.6 kts
Gusts 17.5 kts
Wind Dir N
Air Temp 55.4 F
Pressure 30.05
Water Temp 51.4 F
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