Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Tidal power firm producing grid-compatible energy

By Kyle Alspach

Ocean Renewable Power Company LLC said that its tidal energy system in Eastport, Maine, began generating grid-compatible electricity today.

The Portland, Maine-based company said the system is the largest ocean energy power plant ever installed in U.S. waters and has a maximum capacity of 60 kilowatts.

“Proving the efficacy of the Beta Power System and its ability to generate grid-compatible power day in and day out is a huge milestone for America’s ocean energy industry,” said Chris Sauer, the company’s president and CEO, in the announcement.

The system is operating in Cobscook Bay below the company’s research vessel, the Energy Tide 2. Data from the system will be used to fine tune the design of the company’s commercial TidGen Power System.

The company plans to install the TidGen system in Eastport in late 2011 and expects that the system will generate enough electricity to power 50 to 75 homes after being connected to the electric grid through the Bangor Hydro Electric Company system.

The bodies of water around Eastport have some of the most robust tidal currents in the world, according to Ocean Renewable Power. Over the next two months, the company will be delivering tidal energy to the U.S. Coast Guard for use at its Eastport station through a battery system that’s charged aboard the Energy Tide 2 – the first application of tidal energy by a federal agency.

In March, Ocean Renewable Power reported taking in $4 million in convertible debt. The company was originally founded in Florida in 2004 as Red Circle Systems Corp. and aimed to use the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida as the energy source for its underwater turbines. The company later switched to tidal power.



 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story offered an inaccurate headline. Ocean Renewable Power Company is generating grid-compatible energy now but is not yet transferring that power to the grid.