View non-flash version
HOW A TIDAL ENERGY PROJECT OFF THE COAST OF MAINE IS DELIVERING POWER TO THE GRID BY JARLATH MCENTEE www.sname.org/sname/mt OCEAN RENEWABLE POWER COMPANY ORPC is a global leader in marine hydrokinetic power systems and projects. Our tech- nology generates clean, predictable, renewable grid-compatible power from oceans and rivers without using dams or other bar- riers. Headquartered in Portland, Maine, we develop and license projects at tidal energy sites at the Bay of Fundy (both in the United States and Canada), and at Cook Inlet, Alaska. ese projects have the potential to generate more than 300 MW of electricity, enough to power roughly a quarter of a million homes. In 2012, we installed and started operation of the Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project, the rst commercial, grid-connected hydrokinetic tidal energy project in North America. Located at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy near Eastport and Lubec, Maine, this is the only ocean energy project, other than one using a dam, that deliv- ers power to a utility grid anywhere in the Americas. e project has received a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pilot project license and the rst Maine Department of Environmental Protection General Permit issued for a tidal energy project. We also have received approval for the rst power purchase agreement (PPA) for tidal energy from the Maine Public Utilities Commission, and we have executed a 20-year PPA with Bangor Hydro Electric Company, the grid operator in eastern Maine. July 2013