EASTPORT, Maine — The Maine Public Utilities Commission’s authorization this week to have Maine’s three investor-owned utilities negotiate long-term contracts for the electricity to be produced by a bank of underwater turbines now under construction in Eastport will help to boost a sagging local economy.
Portland-based Ocean Renewable Power Company plans to submerge turbines in waters off the Washington County communities of Lubec and Eastport, where the turbines are being designed and built. Underwater cables will deliver power to an existing Bangor Hydro substation at Kendall Head, north of Eastport, for on-shore distribution onto the power grid. The project anticipates eventual generation of 4 megawatts of output, enough electricity to power 1,000 homes.
Ocean Renewable Power Company estimates that the various tasks associated with building and installing the turbines will create 200 jobs, while day-to-day operations will create 20 jobs.
“This will be the first long-term power purchase agreements for tidal energy in the United States,” the Portland-based company said in a statement released after the Utility Commission’s action. “The PPAs will greatly enhance ORPC’s ability to attract the additional investment needed to complete the project’s build-out over the next four years. They also mean that the significant economic development benefits ORPC has already created in Washington County will expand dramatically, going forward.”
Maine State Senate President Kevin Raye, a Washington County resident and a longtime supporter of harnessing the county’s super tides, said Tuesday the ongoing project will help shore up the local economy and a time when unemployment rates in the county are among the highest in Maine.
“Today is a major milestone in the 80-year effort to commercially harness the vast power of the tide,” Raye said. “For longer than most of us have been alive, it has been a dream deferred. Now that dream will finally be realized,”
Phase one of the installation of the Maine Tidal Energy Project began last month with hard-hat divers installing the bottom-anchored support frame for the first grid-connected, commercial TidGen Power System at Ocean Renewable Power Company’s Cobscook Bay site near Seward Neck, Lubec. The company expects to have the TidGed Power System installed by late summer, and to begin delivering electricity under the PPAs by October 1, 2012.
In fall 2013, the company plans to install four additional TidGen devices at this site, creating a five-device system with a design capacity of 900 kilowatts, enough to power over 100 homes. In addition to Cobscook Bay, Ocean Renewable Power Company’s Maine Tidal Energy Project includes expansion into tidal energy sites in Western Passage and Kendall Head, which would increase output to up to 4 megawatts.
Ocean Renewable Power Company is awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Coast Guard concerning how best to mark the locations of the underwater turbines, both in terms of channel markers and navigational charts. The devices would prove an entanglement hazard for draggers and other fisherman who aren’t aware of their locations.
The Maine Tidal Energy Project is being funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy and by the Maine Technology Institute. More information can be found at www.orpc.co.
I wonder why this took so long, wasn’t Monks touting tidal energy back in the late 60’s-early 70’s ?
activists said no cause water temp. went up 6 degree’s in area directly around it, so canada and others made use of it instead of us.
I thought Raye was a Tea Party Republican. They are against any government job creation. Republicans would rather see the whole County on welfare and starvation. Did Raye become a Democrat in the past few weeks? His buddy LePage will try to veto this government job creation if he can.
This is just an ignorant rant.
All of the millions for this project, they just got 10 million more, is tax-payer money. It’s what they call corporate welfare. Kevin Raye’s nephew is the manager of the company. The taxpayers just gave the Port Authority 8 million for a conveyer system. The taxpayers are never going to see a nickel on every dollar spent, but the people who know how to work the system will get rich.
And the Port Authority pays very little taxes. They should pay full tax amounts on all the property they own and are purchasing , not just just a fraction of. And those worried about the school being shut down – go and petition Gardner for money for the schools…that’s where it should be coming from, not increased taxes from those of us who pay way too ,much already!
How do you know they don’t pay taxes on everything? The port has a legislative charter not town. To change it you need to go to the state legislature not whine in the comment section. Maybe we should check on your taxes.
Which one is Raye’s nephew. Nothing but good ol boy operation that ORPC.
Henry, you seem to have a lot of sour grapes. Sounds like your attitude had gotten in your way of getting on the ol boy network.
Plenty of green jobs fixing it; how does paying so much more for power it generates ‘help’ the economy?
Actually, the theory on tidal power is good. What’s more reliable than the tides? “Time and tide wait for no man,” and all that. I do wonder about the maintenance – barnacles, crap in the water, fish, and all that. Otherwise, it’s kind of a jazzed up version of hydro. They figured out how to keep the impellers clean on those. I suppose they can do the same with the tidal power.
Must be some lefty greenie judge that can stop this. dems want entitlements not jobs
Actually it is more likely to be stopped by the vested interests of oil money. Nice try. Just because your media blames one party for the faults of the world doesn’t make it so….. If you just use your own brain to think about it, who would be harmed by this? Environmentalists or oil companies……?
Maybe taxpayers might wonder why, when there are “for profit” tidal projects all over the world, they have to pay 20 million dollars for these guys to reinvent the wheel.
Blame it on Obuma he likes R&D he is spending billions on it.
Sorry, this is a Bush deal, and if it wasn’t for the close ties with Senators Snowe and Collins, this would have been dead in the water 5 years ago, so to speak.
Let’s do more of these rather than King Angus’s wind deals.
Yeah, Prince Kevin’s tidal projects
Wind deals are cheaper. The PUC approved this one for 22 cents/kw increasing at 2% per year over the next 20 years. I think it’s a great idea, but the cost is at a premium.
‘ya betta just pray they have enough cash on hand to pull all this stuff off of the sea floor when it goes belly-up. I’ll bet nobody has thought of that one.
don’t know ’bout dis sonny, ma and pa sez dat ‘lectricity and watta don’t go ‘gether
Does this mean that power costs will go down now? So, if this provides enough energy” to “power up” 100 households, what is the coast per household? I would love to know. Can someone figure that out? Who is benefitting from this operation?
lets start off saying what a joke this company has not helped anybody local but just a select few and not all of the jobs they say they have they havr spent millions to put this contraption on tbe ocean floor for something that wont work lets also say orpc dosent pay very well either i know a few people that have worked for them and havent seen any money in over a month in my eyes all this company is doing is soaking up our money and wastfully spending it securing sea leases so they can cash out in a few years when the grants run out and sell for big bucks what a joke
What a scam
I like how they say it will help boost a sagging local economy. Between more shipping, trucking, more tourism and this project the economy is eastport hasn’t been stronger in the last 20 years.
You mean there are other renewables besides windsprawl?
Why aren’t these turbines being installed in rivers with a constant flow of water? Thus eliminating the need to build dams.