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First U.S. Tidal Power Project Launches in Maine
By Nathanael Greene, NRDC
July 24, 2012 | Post Your Comment
First U.S. Tidal Power Project Launches in Maine | Renewable Energy News Article
If it doesn't hurt poor people in the wallet...Well, I can be for it.
By Nathanael Greene, NRDC
July 24, 2012 | Post Your Comment
The ocean is a tremendous bank of energy. Covering more than two-thirds of our planet, the amount of energy embodied in the ocean's tides, currents, and waves, not to mention temperature and salinity gradients, could power the world—if we were able to commercialize the technology to harness its renewable power.
While technologies harnessing energy from tides and currents have been domestically discussed for decades, no project has ever reached commercial development, and been connected to the grid in the United States. In Eastport, Maine, however, that changed today with the launch of the Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) TidGen Cobscook Bay tidal energy project. Harnessing the power of the massive tidal shifts in Cobscook Bay, an inlet connected to the much larger Bay of Fundy, the project is the first in the U.S. to receive a FERC license, negotiate a power purchase agreement, and install and operate a power-producing tidal generator.
As clean energy advocates, we are excited to highlight new, innovative projects that inject clean power and jobs into communities, deploy American ingenuity and know-how and utilize smart clean energy policies. The DOE invested $10 million in the project as part of its larger water power program that aims to better understand the environmental impacts that come with harnessing ocean energy, as well as refine, and make more cost-effective, the technologies that do so.
In addition to harnessing local sources of energy, the project apparently:
•Harnessed local knowledge and workers to plan the project. Understanding of Maine’s tidal flows and currents, and marine geology was critical in project planning and implementation, and 50 and 70 local workers, including local fisherman facing underemployment from declining fish stocks, as well as others with a Maine maritime background were hired to help complete the project.
•Sourced components from local manufacturers. Beyond the locals working to plan and construct the project, the turbines and generators were also New England-sourced. Bristol, Rhode Island-based Hall Spars, a former yacht mast manufacturing company, supplied the turbines, while Massachusetts-based Comprehensive Power made the generator.
First U.S. Tidal Power Project Launches in Maine | Renewable Energy News Article
If it doesn't hurt poor people in the wallet...Well, I can be for it.
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