Grant will help fund ORPC’s local job creation
Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has been awarded over $800,000 in funding from the Maine Technology Asset Fund, granted by the Maine Technology Institute, which will be used to build and test the commercial design of its proprietary tidal energy technology.
Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) has been awarded over $800,000 in funding from the Maine Technology Asset Fund, granted by the Maine Technology Institute, which will be used to build and test the commercial design of its proprietary tidal energy technology.
"We are thrilled and honored to receive the Maine Technology Asset Fund award," states Chris Sauer, president and CEO of ORPC. "As one of the few companies in the world to generate emission-free electricity from ocean currents without using dams or impoundments, we look forward to delivering to Maine both environmentally sustainable energy and significant economic development."
As a result of this award, ORPC Maine will advance its commercial Turbine Generator Unit (TGU) technology that will convert tidal currents around Eastport into a clean and predictable source of electricity. The project builds from a successful year of testing in 2008 that established technical feasibility and will demonstrate the TGU's commercial viability for deployment in river and tidal projects. The unit that will be deployed at the Eastport site will measure 46 feet by 14 feet.
"This is one of those threshold moments," says ORPC Maine Director of Projects John Ferland. "We will be doing the final analysis of the design and performance as well as continued environmental monitoring." After this testing is completed, the next step will be to bring the technology to market. "The basic design will be what we want to deploy in Western Passage and in a river project in Alaska," he says.
"It's a very good project, and we look forward to our continued work with them," says Eastport Port Authority Director Chris Gardner of the grant award. Ferland notes, "It's great working in this community. There is a holistic component to working in Eastport." He lists the working relationships ORPC has with the port, city and "terrific facilitation" by Cobscook Bay Resource Center Director Will Hopkins of fishermen's concerns. However, Ferland says, "We need a depth of patience and to maintain discipline" about the time involved in the project. "Everyone sees that this opportunity could be the next pivotal economic development in the area." ORPC will need to move through the pilot process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "We need the pilot sites," he says.
During the final analysis phase that the $800,000 MTI grant will help facilitate, "we estimate a total of 36 jobs created, with more than 20 in Eastport," says Ferland. Those jobs will be "associated with the port and with contractors who will assist with fabrication of the turbine, installing the turbine on the barge and outfitting the barge. There will be some additional employment with ORPC."
The type of work that ocean power technology could develop in the future is varied, Ferland says. "I get excited about the type of work. It involves manufacturing expertise, hands on craftsmanship, and then on the environmental side there is monitoring, oceanography. Students coming out of school can look at ocean power companies, composite materials, environmental service providers, regulatory agencies. It's very broad based."
Governor John Baldacci said of the news, "Expanding Maine's renewable portfolio will lead to job creation in the ocean energy industry. I look forward to the company's new developments which will further improve our state's economy and commitment to renewable energy."
Ferland elaborates on the long-term benefits to Maine's economy. "Once we're in the field, we should advance rapidly. Statewide in five to eight years, as projects are identified, there is the potential for 400 to 500 jobs being created in the state, of which 70 to 100 could be in Eastport."
The MTI board of directors has approved a total of $25 million in awards to 16 applicants across Maine. "The Maine Technology Asset Fund awards will serve Maine's economy by funding cutting-edge technology development in some of Maine's most entrepreneurial companies and research organizations," said MTI President Betsy Biemann. "We were extremely impressed with the breadth and competitiveness of the applicant pool overall and of this group of award winners."