The Eastport-Lubec area has been selected as Maine's best potential location for a tidal power demonstration project using underwater turbine technology that depends on the free flow of the tides rather than dams. The selection signals that the area will be further evaluated as part of a feasibility study. It is the first of numerous steps to be completed before a project can be approved.

     A study team C managed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, California, and supported by funding from the Maine Technology Institute C identified and conducted a preliminary evaluation of 40 potential sites along Maine's coast this summer. The 40 sites were subsequently reduced to 10 finalists, each of which was visited and evaluated by members of the study team in late August.

     The selection of the Eastport-Lubec area as the prime location for a Maine project is part of EPRI's process to target potential sites in the states of California, Maine, Massachusetts and Washington, as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Depending on the outcome of the ongoing process, pilot projects could be located at some or all of the seven targeted sites. Partners in the project are the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the states of Maine, Massachusetts, Alaska and Washington and the U.S. Department of Energy and the City of San Francisco.

     "This confirms the extraordinary quality of our natural resource, and its potential for increasing energy self-reliance," says Bob Judd, a part-time Lubec resident, member of the lead advisory team for the EPRI project, and key advocate of the Lubec and Eastport sites. "In a way, this maritime coast from Nova Scotia to part way down the coast of Maine is a bit like the Saudi Arabia of tidal power."

     "The technology to make use of this resource sensibly is nearing," he adds, noting that ocean energy is now recognized, in the new U.S. energy legislation, as a qualified renewable resource, along with wind, solar, biomass and small hydro-electric dams. Certain incentives are now in place to look at tidal power as a source for domestic energy production. "It's about where wind energy was a decade ago," Judd notes. In 1980, wind power generated no significant amount of energy in the U.S., but now over 6,700 megawatts are produced.

     New technology for harnessing tidal energy does not use containment dams. Instead, underwater turbines are either anchored to the sea floor, attached to driven piles or suspended from a floating structure that's anchored.

     Although proponents of tidal energy will be sensitive to concerns about navigation and the fisheries, Judd adds that they "want to develop the momentum to see if the promise of this technology can help with energy independence." Two scales are envisioned for tidal power C a commercial operation that would produce a significant amount of megawatts that would be passed into the power grid, and smaller scale projects that would provide power for perhaps a local manufacturing facility.

     "We have successfully taken the first step in a process that has the potential to serve our area and make it a model for homegrown electricity. It is a good start, but many steps remain in the process and this preliminary step does not yet guarantee the final siting of the project," Judd says.

     Maine's advisors on the project, in consultation with study team consultants, selected Eastport and Lubec as the state's strongest candidate sites. Extensive modeling of the area's tidal flow, done by Texas A&M Oceanography Professor David Brooks, an Eastport native, was pivotal to the selection.

     In addition to the quality of the tidal flow, project advisors were impressed with the skills available in the local area, the proximity of shoreside support resources, the potential for international collaboration with New Brunswick, and the receptivity demonstrated by local leaders at an August 26 meeting in Lubec with Judd and site selection consultant Dr. George Hagerman of Virginia Tech.

     Among those participating in the Lubec meeting were Maine Senator Kevin Raye, Andrew Varisco of U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe's office, Carol Woodcock of U.S. Senator Susan Collins' office, Lubec Selectman Bill Daye, Eastport City Manager George Finch, and Lubec Town Administrator Maureen Glidden. Also taking part were Capt. Bob Peacock, Lubec Harbormaster Davis Pike, Kathy Billings of Bangor-Hydro, Will Hopkins of the Cobscook Bay Resource Center, Michael Mayhew of the Maine PUC, Michael Szemerda of Cooke Aquaculture, and Lubec residents Harold Bailey, Peter Boyce and Dick Hoyt.

     Hopkins comments, "It's all about location and the specific technology that they settle on. There are different approaches, and we don't know if any are suited to this part of the world. We certainly hope that as part of the project they will monitor the effect on fish and marine mammal populations."

      He adds, "This does seem to be an appropriate scale technology. Potentially the people of this area could be in on the ground floor."

     Following the meeting, Peacock took Hagerman, Raye and others on a tour of potential sites. Raye indicated to Hagerman his support for the local sites, and subsequently contacted Beth Nagusky, Maine's director of energy independence, urging that the Eastport-Lubec area be selected. Raye noted that the area's powerful tides, strong local interest, and history as home of the former Passamaquoddy Dam tidal power project combine to make it an ideal location to test a turbine generating system. Raye also noted his belief that the project offers potential for increasing economic activity in Washington County.

     Specifically, consultants report that waters between Dog Island and Clark's Ledge in Eastport appear to have the highest potential for larger scale power generation. Waters near Shackford Head in Eastport were also deemed attractive but have some limitations. The Lubec Narrows ranked high because of its extremely powerful tidal flow but lacks the water depth at low tide required to accommodate larger-scale generation systems. Those close to the project indicate there is a good possibility that the Lubec Narrows could become the site of a 500-kilowatt pilot "prototype" project.

     If the technology proves successful after a 12-24 month test, project management hopes for a larger commercial project in the 10 megawatt range, likely at Eastport, in the future. A 10-megawatt generation system would generate enough electricity to serve the needs of 7,000-8,000 typical households. As envisioned, the projects would be owned by developers who would finance the purchase, installation and operation of the generation systems. They would recoup their costs and earn a profit by selling the electricity into the existing electrical distribution grid.

     A more detailed study will be undertaken, with results expected in early May 2006. This analysis will address a number of questions, including the projected cost of electricity generated from tidal power.

     The next step will be to select the best technology for the potential Maine site. Of eight companies identified by the study team as designing and manufacturing tidal power generation systems, three that appear to have products most suitable to the area have been selected for further review. One will be selected for the detailed economic and environmental and regulatory analysis that will take place over the next six months.

     "Now we need to keep this pioneering project alive and nurture it with care and clear thinking. It could turn out to be something special right in our backyard," Judd observes.