Maine tidal pilot project not seeking new license

The holder of a federal pilot license for a Maine tidal energy project has told regulators that it does not intend to relicense the project beyond the pilot license's expiration in 2022, pointing to tidal current velocities at the project site as inadequate to justify pursuing a commercial license.

At issue is the Cobscook Bay Tidal Project.  On February 27, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a pilot project license to ORPC Maine, LLC for the project for a period of eight years.  Later that year, it became the first grid-tied commercial tidal power plant in the U.S.

The Commission later granted a subsequent request by ORPC to extend its license term for the Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project from eight years to ten years, until January 31, 2022.  In that order extending the pilot license term, the Commission noted "the experimental nature of hydrokinetic devices, the licensee’s dedication to expanding and improving the technology and design of its project, and the insignificant or no impact to the surrounding environment by extending the license term two years."

Because the FERC licensing process can take years to complete, licensees are required to make public filings between 5 and 5-and-a-half years in advance of license expiry.  On March 14, 2017, ORPC made such a filing.  In that March 14 letter, ORPC noted some project successes:

The Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy site has served a pivotal role in the advancement of ORPC’s technology specifically and the domestic marine hydrokinetic industry generally. ORPC anticipates that the project infrastructure in place, the environmental monitoring and data analysis efforts, resource information documentation, and collaborative relationships with existing marine users will continue through the duration of the existing pilot license term. With concurrence of the Project Adaptive Management Team, we will be testing new generations of system components and assembled systems at the project site and will keep FERC informed regarding these efforts.

But then ORPC noted an intent not to seek a commercial license for the project after the pilot license's expiration:

While the project site serves as an excellent testing area, ORPC considers the tidal current velocities at the Project site inadequate to justify pursuing a commercial license. Therefore ORPC does not intend to file a NOI or PAD for the Project at this time.

In a May 25, 2017 letter to the licensee, Commission staff characterized the licensee's March 14 filing as "a notice of intent not to relicense the Cobscook Bay Tidal Project," citing the licensee's position on tidal velocities, and noting the licensee's stated intent to continue operating the project until the pilot license expires on January 31, 2022.

US first tidal project to come online

The nation's first commercial, grid-connected tidal energy project is scheduled to go live this month, as Ocean Renewable Power Company plans to start delivering power to the grid from its Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project.

A scene from the Maine coast: Crow Island off Great Cranberry Island, about 100 miles west of the Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project.

Earlier this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an pilot project license to Ocean Renewable Power Company Maine, LLC for its Cobscook project near Eastport, Maine.  The initial phase of ORPC's project involves a hydrokinetic turbine connected to a generator capable of producing up to 180 kilowatts of energy; after monitoring this turbine for a year, ORPC plans to expand the project to a capacity of 3 megawatts.

ORPC also won a 20-year power purchase agreement to sell the projects' output to Maine's three large electric utilities at a price escalating from 21.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.  That PPA was the result of a Maine law creating a competitive process for marine renewable energy developers to secure offtake agreements.

In a filing with the FERC earlier this week, ORPC announced that it anticipates delivering power from the Cobscook project to the mainland Bangor Hydro Electric Co. grid starting today.  According to the filing, this initial power delivery is part of the project's commissioning phase, with commencement of commercial operation expected by September 20.

Hydrokinetic projects -- generating electricity from tides, waves, and free-flowing rivers -- is a new sector of the U.S. energy portfolio.  Studies suggest that hydrokinetic resources have great potential, with tidal energy's electric production potential estimated to be 2.38 terawatt-hours per year, equal to an average power of 270 MW.  Wave energy appears to provide the larger resource, with an estimated electricity production potential of about approximately 260 TWh/yr (equal to an average power of 30,000 MW), with river in-stream electricity production potential estimated at approximately 110 TWh/yr.

Fish passage for hydrokinetic projects?

Fishways are often found at dams to allow fish to pass upstream or downstream - but what does fish passage mean for dam-less hydrokinetic projects?

Hydrokinetic energy projects are an innovative way to produce electricity from moving water without building dams.  Companies are developing a variety of technologies, many of which use water flowing in a river, ocean or tidal current to spin turbine-generator sets.  Most grid-connected hydrokinetic projects are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under its authority over hydropower.  This authority comes largely from the Federal Power Act, which requires the Commission to include certain terms in the hydropower project licenses it issues and gives it discretion to impose other conditions.  For example, Section 18 of the Federal Power Act provides that the Commission shall require the construction, maintenance, and operation by a licensee of such fishways as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce.

Hydrokinetic technologies are still fairly new, so only a handful of projects have received FERC licenses so far.  Given that hydrokinetic projects do not include the construction of a new dam, one might not expect fish passage to be an issue, particularly at tidal or ocean sites.  Indeed, it appears that for at least some hydrokinetic projects, fish passage may not be an issue.  For example, when FERC issued a pilot project license to Verdant Power, LLC for its Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project in New York City's East River, the Commission did not include a reservation of the right to require a fishway in the license.

The Commission did include such a fishway reservation in the pilot license it granted to Ocean Renewable Power Company's Cobscook Bay Tidal project in Maine waters.  In that case, the Secretary of the Interior cited important and highly valued populations of resident and migratory fish, including endangered Atlantic salmon.  Although the Secretary did not prescribe a fishway at the time, Interior requested that the Commission reserve its authority to prescribe fishways under Section 18.  When FERC granted ORPC's license, it included an article reserving the authority to require the licensee to construct, operate, and maintain, or to provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of such fishways as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior.

Although the project licensee later requested an exemption from this article because its project is not a dam and will not create any impoundment, the Commission declined to amend the license.  Explaining its reasoning, the Commission pointed to the policy it developed from its traditional hydropower licensing: if the Secretary of the Interior or Commerce so requests, the Commission will include an article reserving the Commission’s authority to require the construction and operation of fishways to preserve the requesting Secretary's future right to to prescribe fishways under Section 18.

What a possible fishway system for a tidal hydrokinetic project remains to be seen, as does whether FERC will impose such a requirement on any operating projects.  If the Secretary of the Interior or Commerce prescribes a fishway, FERC can assert its jurisdiction under Section 18 to require fishway installation.  Factors that could lead to such a decision may include the particular fish species and resources at each project's site, and a project's actual impacts on those fish.

Maine regulators approve tidal energy PPA concept

Yesterday, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved the terms of a power purchase agreement between three large utilities and a hydrokinetic tidal power project in Maine waters.

Low tide at Preble Cove, Great Cranberry Island, Maine.

Hydrokinetic energy projects produce electricity from moving water like tides, waves, ocean currents, or rivers, typically without dams.  As I noted yesterday, a 2010 Maine law required the PUC to conduct a competitive process to solicit proposals for long-term contracts for offshore wind and tidal projects.  The PUC received multiple submissions in response.  Commission staff have been negotiating with some of the bidders, and yesterday approved a proposal by Ocean Renewable Power Co. to sell the output of a small tidal project in Cobscook Bay to Maine's three largest utilities.

Under the terms approved the Commission, ORPC will receive a 20-year contract with utilities Central Maine Power Co., Bangor Hydro-Electric Co., and Maine Public Service Co. to sell the output of its underwater tidal power generation units.  ORPC plans to install the first of these units in Cobscook Bay this summer, and plans to expand its pilot project to include sites off Lubec and Eastport in the next 4 years.

While many of the terms of the resulting contract remain to be worked out, one piece appears firm: the price.  Utilities will pay 21.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for the tide-generated electricity in the first year; this base price of 21.5 cents will escalate at 2% per year, reaching a price of about 39 cents per kWh in the final contract year.  (By way of comparison, the Cape Wind offshore wind PPA approved in Massachusetts starts at 18.7 cents per kWh, with a 3.5% annual escalator over its 15 year term.  The ORPC initial rate is over twice the average rate currently paid by Maine utility customers on "standard offer" default service, or about 5 times higher than the current wholesale price in the New England market.)

For ORPC, the contract is a significant boon.  Securing a 20-year power purchase agreement should greatly assist the developer in securing financing for the project.  This project is designed as a demonstration or pilot project, but may be able to serve as a proof that ORPC's technology and installation systems will work on a larger scale.

For ratepayers, the volume of the contract is relatively low - as licensed by FERC, the Cobscook Project has a maximum capacity of 300 kW - meaning that its above-market costs will be diluted in the much larger pool of power consumed in Maine.  Nevertheless, if the contract volume grows as ORPC builds more of its scalable tidal generation units, those costs will become less and less dilute.  On the other hand, the contract itself - which still needs approval by the PUC once it is finally negotiated - may include other products or commodities such as capacity or renewable energy credits (RECs).  Developers typically prefer securing long-term contracts for as many commodities as possible, which helps solidify their future revenues, but it can make it harder to compare two contracts.

Many tidal projects today face high capital costs, let alone research and development expenses, but many believe that their fuel-free nature will ultimately enable tidal power to have a low fundamental cost of production of electricity in the future.  ORPC's project may shed some light on how that belief fares in the Gulf of Maine.

Maine tidal project wins pilot license

Federal regulators have issued a pilot project license to a tidal energy project proposed in Maine's Cobscook Bay.  Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order granting Ocean Renewable Power Company Maine, LLC an 8-year pilot project license to construct, operate, and maintain its proposed Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project.  As licensed, the 300 kilowatt project will be located in Cobscook Bay north and east of Seaward Neck and west of Shackford Head State Park in Eastport, Maine.

ORPC Maine applied for its pilot license in September 2011.  Last month, FERC issued its Environmental Assessment of the Cobscook project, finding generally that licensing the hydrokinetic project with appropriate environmental protective measures would not constitute a major federal action that would significantly affect the quality of the human environment.

FERC granted the pilot project license just 179 days after the license application was filed, a relatively quick timeline for hydropower permitting made possible by FERC's hydrokinetic pilot project licensing process.  As envisioned by FERC staff, the ideal pilot project should be (1) small, (2) short term, (3) located in non-sensitive areas based on the Commission’s review of the record, (4) removable and able to be shut down on short notice, (5) removed, with the site restored, before the end of the license term (unless a new license is granted), and (6) initiated by a draft application in a form sufficient to support environmental analysis.  In ORPC Maine's case, FERC staff agreed that the Cobscook project was a good fit for pilot project licensing process after reviewing the developer's application.

FERC's order approving the license includes an analysis of the economic benefits of project power. As licensed, FERC found that the levelized annual cost of operating the project would be about $1,419,600, or $1.13/kWh. Based on an estimated average generation of 1,250,000 kWh as licensed, the annual value of alternative grid-based power would be $90,400, or 7.2 cents/kWh.  Therefore, in the first year of operation the project power would cost $1,329,200, or $1.06/kWh, more than the cost of alternative power.

As FERC found, "The project has relatively high capital and operation and maintenance costs with respect to the amount of power produced. Although our analysis shows that the project as licensed herein would cost more to operate than our estimated cost of alternative power, it is the applicant who must decide whether to accept this license and any financial risk that entails. This project’s value, however, lies in its successful testing and demonstration of ORPC Maine’s turbine technology, and the project’s ability to raise the profile of, and advance, the emergent tidal energy industry."

NYC tidal project gets pilot license

Federal regulators have issued a pilot project license to a tidal power proposal to be developed in the East River off New York City.  Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission awarded a license to the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project (62-page PDF).

As described in the license, the Roosevelt Island project will start relatively small, and is licensed for additional phases of growth.  The first phase entails deployment of three 35-kW Kinetic Hydropower Systems developed by Verdant Power, LLC.  Each of these units has a 5-meter diameter turbine connected to  generator.  Over time, additional turbine units could be deployed, up to a total of 30 turbines, for a total nameplate capacity of 1,050 kilowatts.

Verdant chose to seek a pilot project license for the Roosevelt Island tidal development.  FERC views its hydrokinetic pilot project licensing process as a variant of its Integrated Licensing Process.  Compared to other paths to FERC hydropower licenses, the pilot project process is designed to allow developers to test new hydrokinetic and hydropower technologies while minimizing both their costs and the risk of adverse environmental impacts.

Commission staff have described the ideal pilot project as (1) small, (2) short term, (3) located in environmentally non-sensitive areas based on the Commission’s review of the record, (4) removable and able to be shut down on short notice, (5) removed, with the site restored, before the end of the license term (unless a new license is granted), and (6) initiated by a draft application in a form sufficient to support environmental analysis.  Based on the Roosevelt Island project's similarity to this conceptual ideal, FERC staff recommended that Verdant pursue a pilot project license.

Verdant's pilot project license includes a variety of conditions and mitigation requirements.  Among these are a requirement that Verdant commence construction of Phase 1 within two years, and to complete construction of Phase 3 within six years of the issuance date of the license.  If Verdant meets these deadlines, the Roosevelt Island could be producing electricity within the next few years.

Other innovative ocean energy projects are pursuing FERC's pilot project licensure path, such as the Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project proposed by Ocean Renewable Power Company Maine, LLC.  Verdant's license is the first hydrokinetic pilot project license that FERC has issued; others may follow in its footsteps.

Maine hydrokinetic energy project seeks pilot license

Hydrokinetic power plants can produce usable power from the energy contained in moving water into electricity.  Tidal currents, ocean waves, or water flowing through rivers can all be used to produce hydrokinetic energy.  (To learn more, check out my summary of what's happening with hydrokinetics across the country.)

Hydrokinetic energy development is generally regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  To be able to install and operate a hydrokinetic project at a given site, the developer typically goes through a multi-step regulatory process.  This usually includes securing a preliminary permit granting the exclusive right to study the site for several years, followed by the FERC license application process.

Maine is home to a number of issued preliminary permits for proposed hydrokinetic energy projects.  This month, one of those projects -- the Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project -- took a step forward, as its application for a pilot license was accepted by the Commission.

The Cobscook Bay project is proposed by ORPC Maine, LLC, a subsidiary of Ocean Renewable Power Company.  ORPC proposes to deploy its proprietary scalable tidal energy power system in Cobscook Bay near the city of Eastport and the town of Lubec, Maine.  Cobscook Bay's tidal energy resource has drawn interest for nearly 100 years, with proposals like the Passamaquoddy Power Project coming and going in that time.  Hydrokinetic technologies are enabling renewed interest in the bay's tidal energy resources.

ORPC's pilot license application envisions two phases of project development.  First, ORPC will test a single TidGen unit for one year.  Next, ORPC would add four more TidGen units to create a linked project.  Each TidGen unit has a maximum design capacity of 180 kilowatts, but is anticipated to produce only 60 kW during typical operations.  Electricity produced by the project would be brought ashore via a 3,600-foot underwater cable, where it would be conditioned and interconnected with the grid owned by Bangor Hydro Electric Company.

FERC gave notice that it accepted ORPC's application for processing on October 6, 2011.  Because ORPC is using the Commission's new pilot license process, the regulatory steps are more streamlined than for traditional hydropower licenses, and many of the deadlines are accelerated.  Comments, recommendations, motions to intervene or protests are due within 30 days from that notice of acceptance.

July 1, 2011 - hydrokinetic projects in Maine

Hydrokinetic power plants convert the energy of moving water into electricity.  They can operate on tidal currents, ocean waves, or on water flowing through rivers.  (To learn more, check out my summary of what's happening with hydrokinetics across the country.)

Waves breaking on the back shore of Great Cranberry Island, Maine.

In Maine, eight hydrokinetic tidal projects have won preliminary permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  Preliminary permits represent the first step toward earning a license to build and operate a project.  Once a developer receives a preliminary permit for a site, that developer has the exclusive right for three years to file an application for a full license at that site.  Preliminary permits don't authorize project construction or operation, but rather reserve a developer's claim to a particular site to allow time for studying the engineering and business aspects of the project.

The eight Maine hydrokinetic projects with preliminary permits are:

• Town of Wiscasset Tidal Resources, 10 MW on the Sheepscot River
• Shearwater Design's Homeowner Tidal Power Elec Gen, 60 kW on the Kennebec River
• The Power Company's Damariscotta Tidal project, 250 kW on the Damariscotta River
• Tidewalker Associates' Half Moon Tidal Energy project, 9 MW on Passamaquoddy Bay
• three projects by Ocean Renewable Power Company:
• Cobscook Bay at 750 kW
• Western Passage Ocgen at 1.2 MW
• Kendall Head at 1.2 MW
• Pennamaquan Tidal Power on the Pennamaquan River at 21.1 MW

In addition, the Bareneck Island project is currently seeking a federal license to actually develop and operate its project.

June 10, 2010 update - a new Maine tidal project

Today's Bangor Daily News includes an article about Halcyon Marine Hydroelectric's plans to install a tidal power project in Cobscook Bay.

Ramez Atiya, founder of Halcyon, has developed invented a new way to build tidal hydropower systems at a much lower cost.  Atiya has a patent on his "parallel cycle" “tidal wing.  His prototype would be a concrete structure 400 meters long, 15' above mean water level, housing 4 generators.  In a new refinement of the Passamaquoddy Power Project's technology, Halcyon's approach would combine power generation on the flood and ebb tides with pumping.  Atiya claims that the tides within the cove will rise and fall just as if the tidal wing were not there.

Where does Halycon want to build?  First, a demonstration project at Half Moon Cove.

June 9, 2010 - tidal power in Maine: the Passamquoddy Power Project

Maine's historic wood and stone tide mills were just going dark in the 1930s. At the same time, larger tidal power projects were in the works. Chief of these was the Passamaquoddy Power Project, a large project designed to generate 300 to 500 MW of capacity.

In 1919, having returned from dam siting and building in South America, Dexter P. Cooper took some rest and relaxation on Campobello Island, just over the New Brunswick border from (and only accessible by road from) Lubec, Maine. As the August 1935 article in Popular Science put it:

With nothing to do, Cooper spent whole days watching the tides swirl past the island. He calculated the billions of horsepower going to waste. As a sort of hobby, he began imagining ways of putting the rising and falling water to work. In the end, he became convinced of the entire practicability of harnessing the Fundy tides.

What Cooper envisioned was the construction of five huge dams connecting various points and islands near the junction of Passamaquoddy Bay and Cobscook Bay. Cobscook Bay would be effectively walled off from Passamaquoddy Bay. As the Bay of Fundy's tide rose in Passamaquoddy Bay, the topography would make Passamaquoddy fill much faster than Cobscook. Once a five-foot head was built up, the penstocks would be opened and Passamaquoddy would fall down into Cobscook, spinning turbine generators along the way. Under expected conditions, the head could build up to as much as 18 to 23 feet. At low tide, gates would open and equalize the water levels.

Tidal projects have always had to deal with the effects of lunar time changes. Each night, the moon passes its zenith about 50 minutes later than the night before. In older times, this meant that the milling could only take place for part of the day, and not necessarily at convenient times. The Passamaquoddy project included an early pumped storage reservoir. A 180,000 horsepower pumping station at Haycock Harbor was to pump seawater into a 13,000 acre reservoir at 130' above sea level.

If you've ever been to Lubec, or if you follow tidal power projects, you probably know that the Passamaquoddy Power Project was never completed. I'm looking at the "why", to see what we can learn from history.

June 3, 2010 - Red Sox, whales, and tidal power projects in history

I'm fortunate to be headed to this afternoon's Red Sox game. Boston is not really that far from Maine, at least not by Maine standards. I grew up around Boston. Between business and family, I'm often in Boston these days. To be able to take in a Sox game is a real treat.

Last weekend, I went on a whale watch out of Boston with the New England Aquarium. We saw a number of humpback and minke whales, plus an offshore seal that may have been a gray seal.

We cruised through Boston Harbor, with views of the Custom House and the working waterfront. We passed right by the Everett LNG terminal and the short but prominent wind turbine. Past the archipelago of Boston Harbor Islands National Park, we headed off to Stellwagen Bank, where the action was.

I go on whale watches mostly to see the marine mammals, birds and fish. I've had some amazing encounters out there.

Sailing from different ports from Key West through Essipit in the Cote-Nord of Quebec, it's interesting to see common threads of history in harbor and coastline development. One of these that I've encountered in several places recently is historic tidal power development.

Tomorrow, I'll look into a local tide mill just downriver from my house, as well as the grander Passamaquoddy Power Project of the 1930s: a proposed 500 MW international tidal barrage project. The lessons we can learn from history are invaluable as we consider new iterations of old questions.