As Ocean Renewable Power gets ready to install the nation’s largest tidal turbine off the coast of Maine, the Energy Department Tuesday in effect gave the project a green light.
The department issued a report to Congress concluding that tidal and wave energy devices will have no significant impact on the marine environment.
Ocean Renewable Power will launch its tidal turbine next month.
The Eastport, Maine, project is one of a small handful of ocean-energy trials taking place in the U.S. More advanced trials have started outside the country, in the Bay of Fundy and off the coast of Scotland, for instance.
In Maine, Ocean Renewable Power hopes to install a 10,000-pound, 60 KW generator in the waters of Cobscook Bay next month. The turbine will follow. It is believed to be the largest tidal energy project planned for coastal U.S. waters.
The company anticipates a commercial scale unit with connections to the electrical grid by the end of the year and a farm with 200 MW of capacity by 2015. It has received $1.3 million of Department of Energy grants.
The Energy Department report to Congress points out that more than 100 devices have been developed or conceived for converting waves, tides and ocean temperatures into energy. So far, few have left the drawing board to become prototypes.
As a result, there is little hard data for understanding the impact on ocean and river life. Nonetheless, the 143-page study looks closely at the impact of underwater cables, offshore wind farms, hydropower stations and other marine construction to determine the environmental consequence will be minimal.
It warns, however, that more monitoring needs to take place as projects move forward.
