The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management says it awarded a research lease to an Oregon university to test the prospects for utility-scale wave energy.

"Wave energy off the West Coast has incredible potential," BOEM Acting Director Walter Cruickshank said in a statement Thursday.

The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center at Oregon State University aims to design, build and operate a site off the state's coast that could produce as much as 20 megawatts of electricity from waves. The energy could be sent to the mainland through a subsea cable.

Cruickshank said, with the lease awarded, his agency would work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on project development.

In early June, BOEM awarded a lease to Florida Atlantic University for marine hydrokinetic technology testing.

Wave energy programs are in the early stages of development.