NORTH BEND — The hydrokinetic industry has come a long way since the first equipment, designed to harness the power of the ocean, was installed and hooked to the electrical grid in 2003 off the coast of Denmark.

Most of the technology is being developed in Western  Europe, the United Kingdom, specifically, but the U.S. is getting in on that wave action too.

And Oregon is poised to capitalize on it.

“It makes sense,” said Roger Bedard, the Ocean energy leader for the Electric Power and Research Institute.

He spoke Thursday at the two-day Ocean Renewable Energy Conference held at the Mill Convention Center in North Bend.

 The conference brings more than 300 people involved in the wave, tidal and current power-generating industry from around the world to discuss the technology, environmental impacts, research, community impacts, regulatory concerns and more. It’s hosted by Oregon Wave Energy Trust.

 Oregon has an excellent wave climate in which power-generating buoys or other structures could be placed. Some kinds of structures also could be placed in rivers to harness tidal or current energy. However, Oregon’s ocean current climate is relatively weak, Bedard said.

 But that’s OK — the industry still is in its infancy. 

 One of the biggest hurdles facing developers, speakers said, is the regulatory framework. Most of the agencies in charge of developing the rules and regulations governing hydrokinetic energy have no programs that fit. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, for example, originally had wave energy under its hydropower division, for the same rules that cover dams on rivers. FERC only recently recognized the need to break out wave, tidal and current energy to a new section. 

“We were blindsided,” said Paul Klarin, Ocean Policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. 

 Oregon already is working through some of the same issues, developing new rules to accommodate the industry, he said.

 Government leaders, though, are keen on renewable energy, from those in Europe to Oregon’s own Gov. Ted Kulongoski. 

 The industry has a long way to go, first, Bedard said, before electricity from ocean waves can become mainstream or a sole source of energy.

 “I don’t advocate wave energy as a power source yet because I don’t think we’re there yet,” Bedard said.

 He quickly added the qualifier that renewable energy can be added to a country or state’s overall energy portfolio though, as the technology advances.

 Another hurdle developers face is the high cost of designing and building an unproven technology. Once wave energy-generating devices are in the water, will they be cost-effective according to the current market price for electricity?

 “Does your little slice of that justify the investment?” asked Derek Robertson, a delegate from  U.K. Trade and Investment.

 At the same time, developers have to consider local impacts.

 “We have do this in a thoughtful manner,” Lincoln County Assistant District Attorney Rob Bovett said. “We said, ‘Slow down, let’s do this right.’”