Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) met its greatest milestone this fall when it started generating electricity that was then connected toBangor Hydro’s distribution grid. As the first commercial tidal energy project in the United States, the company has begun a year long test of its TidGen turbinegenerator in the waters of Cobscook Bay.
ORPC may have its corporate office in Portland, but the focus of its operations is the extreme tides in eastern Washington County. Since 2004, with over 10 million dollars of support from the Department of Energy, the company has been developing the technology to produce electric power from tidal currents. It has also made a significant contribution to the area’s local economy by providing full- and part-time jobs, subcontracting with local businesses and frequenting the region’s restaurants and motels.
For some, a job with ORPC is just one more piece of the economic puzzle that keeps year-round residents busy helping maintain a “somewhat” steady cash-flow. Tessa Ftorek is an educator, registered Maine guide and owns an outdoor recreation business with her husband, Steve. “Everything I do has to do with education,” Ftorek said as she enthusiastically described her job with ORPC. In her role as one of eight observers, she works aboard a ship watching for any marine mammals that may be disturbed by construction activities.
Beginning in early spring of this year, a group of local residents with particular interest and expertise in the environment were trained by whale expert Moe Brown of the New England Aquarium. As an observer, Ftorek has joined the ranks of local residents employed by ORPC with jobs that include boat captains, scuba divers and other skilled technicians.
Even when the workers come from outside the area, ORPC has had a positive economic impact. Heather Henry, new co-owner of the Eastland Motel in Lubec, said their rooms “have been full since we opened in March. It has been a banner year.” She has been renting rooms to the workers setting up the transmission line between the underwater unit and its Bangor Hydro hookup in North Lubec.
Early this year, Perry Marine Construction (PMC), a local company serving as general contractor under a multi-year contract with ORPC, began preparing the seabed for installation of the first unit. In the future, the company plans to build a fabrication warehouse on property recently bought from the City of Eastport, and they have already doubled their staff.
Bob Lewis is an Eastport native with advanced degrees in chemistry and business administration. He has been with ORPC for five years and is one of four full-time local employees. As director of operations planning and chief safety officer, Lewis recalled his first years with ORPC. “For the prototype, we had 30-35 persons working on the project, all under various subcontractors principally at the Boat School [at Deep Cove in Eastport],” he said. Paying tribute to local contributions, he said “this region has a skilled work force with people that have been on the water all their life.”
On display at ORPC’s downtown Eastport office is a collection of early blades made from wood, fiberglass and even a transformed culvert. With lessons learned from various designs, scale models and demonstration deployments, the company has just unveiled their newest product.
The TidGen turbine generator unit (TGU) was dedicated in Eastport on July 24 in front of an audience that included former Govs. John Baldacci and Angus King. The unit includes four turbines constructed with composite materials by the Rhode Island company Hall Spars & Rigging. The bottom support frame was fabricated by Newport Industrial Fabrication of Newport, Maine, and the generator was manufactured by Comprehensive Power, Inc. of Marlborough, Mass.
On Aug. 14, a time picked for slack tide and calm weather, PMC lowered the completed unit onto its frame in 80 feet of water in Cobscook Bay at a location between Eastport and Lubec. Connection to Bangor Hydro’s electric grid through an onshore station located at the end of North Lubec Road was completed in mid-September. Power produced is expected to be equivalent to that used by 25-30 homes.
Under the conditions of their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission pilot project license, ORPC will monitor this equipment during the coming year. As part of that process, every 12 weeks the unit will be lifted and inspected. According to Lewis, up to a dozen people will be needed during each inspection.
Lewis, who has watched the enthusiasm and interest in this new technology grow throughout his tenure, said “this is just the beginning” of job creation. Specialized jobs, such as “hard hat diving,” are just one possibility for a newly trained work force. Scientists and engineers from throughout New England are looking at the project with interest and some are hoping to become more closely involved.
“Part of my job is managing expectations,” Lewis said. During year one of an eight-year pilot project license, he is “conservative” when projecting ahead. “This is a beachhead,” he said. “With so many stakeholders, we are working to get a solid footing.”
Leslie Bowman is a freelance writer and photographer living in Trescott.
Coverage of Washington County is made possible by a grant from the Eaton Foundation.