Ocean Renewable Power Company, headquartered in Portland, is getting a $5.3 million Department of Energy grant to finish development of the commercial design of its TidGen Power System.  The new design will be tested, operated and monitored in Washington County.  This DOE-funded project is the next step in the eventual deployment of the company's proposed 5MW Maine Tidal Energy Project, according to a news release from Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s office.

"ORPC is a company that is creating and supporting jobs in every corner of our state," Pingree said, in the releaes.  "And this grant puts them a big step closer to finishing the design of the next generation of their innovative tidal power technology.  Not only is ORPC creating jobs but at the same time they are building a new source of clean energy produced right here at home."

ORPC President Chris Sauer said the federal grant, along with matching private funding that must be secured, will allow the company to complete the commercial design of the TidGen Power System.  The new design features a buoyancy wing that allows the unit to be positioned at optimum depths to take advantage of the strongest current.

The company said the Bay of Fundy, on the border between eastern Maine in the United States and Canada, is one of the most robust tidal energy resources in the world. Each day, 100 billion tons of water flow in and out of it with the force of 8,000 locomotives and tidal ranges of up to 50 feet or more.

At its mouth, off of Eastport and Lubec, ORPC sent electricity to the Emera Maine utility grid from the first phase of its Maine Tidal Energy Project, the first commercial, grid-connected tidal power project in the country, and the first ocean energy project in all of the Americas to deliver power to a public grid.

“We've forged strong relationships with the City of Eastport and Town of Lubec, the Eastport Port Authority, the Cobscook Bay Resource Center, the Cobscook Bay Fisherman's Association and area fishermen, local harbor pilots, Sunrise County Economic Council, the public and other local organizations, who've all expressed enthusiastic support for our efforts,” the company said, at its website. 

“In the next several years, ORPC looks to expand the Maine Tidal Energy Project to up to 5 megawatts per the terms of our 20-year power purchase agreement approved by the Maine PUC, the first long term contract for the sale of hydrokinetic power and a historic milestone in the industry,” the company said. “The Maine Tidal Energy Project will eventually generate enough electricity to power every home and business in down east Maine with clean tidal energy.”