According to Care2 news portal, Maine’s Public Utilities Commission recently approved ORPC’s power purchase agreements (PPAs). The 20-year agreements with the tidal energy developer will generate electricity from its Cobscook Bay site in the Gulf of Maine.
The company’s Maine Tidal Energy Project began to develop in March, when the bottom support frame for the first grid-connected TidGen power system was installed at the site near Seward Neck. The power system is fully underwater and completely invisible from the surface. That way it has no effect on natural water landscapes, boating or shipping.
It is expected that ORPC will have the 150 KW device placed by late summer, and become fully operational by October.
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Offshore WIND staff, May 15, 2012; Image: ORPC