MMA eyes tidal power test facility

CASTINE – Maine Maritime Academy has filed for a federal permit to establish a tidal power test facility in the waters of the Bagaduce River.

Academy officials submitted a formal application for a preliminary, three-year permit to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulation Commission on Monday. The permit, if approved, would allow the college, working as part of a consortium that also includes Maine-based Cianbro Corp., to identify and evaluate potential sites on the river for the proposed Tidal Energy Device Evaluation Center.

“This is an exciting development for the college and our state as it allows Maine Maritime Academy to further serve the public interests,” said MMA President Leonard Tyler. “This is a way in which we can expand our service as an educational resource, by providing a means to inexpensively and efficiently test the feasibility of renewable energy devices in Maine and other places.”

Peter Vigue, president of Cianbro and an MMA graduate, said the project offers a great opportunity for the state, the college and the other consortium members to be involved in the technology developing around renewable energy.

“We have the opportunity to participate in this research and development,” Vigue said. “As a byproduct of that process, you’re also developing a new generation of those technology people alongside with the technology. It’s a great opportunity for the academy to gain international prominence by being part of that developing technology concept. And it’s a real significant opportunity for these young people as well.”

If the project is approved, the center, known as TEDEC, would be only the second such facility in the world. Except for the government-funded European Marine Evaluation Center in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland, there is no other facility in the world that has the capability to field-test and evaluate tidal energy extraction devices effectively, according to the FERC application.

The focus of the project is to provide a testing and evaluation center for tidal energy generators and to provide education and research opportunities for students and faculty of the college. Mark Cote, chair of the MMA engineering department, stressed that the project was not a tidal power generating project, nor is the college developing or building tidal turbines. The center will test and evaluate tidal energy devices that generally are being developed by small private companies and academic institutions that have limited resources.

“We’re looking at developing a test center which will include a number of test platforms in the bay that we can make available to vendors who design and manufacture tidal generators and [who] need to test their designs in an application setting,” Cote said Tuesday. “There are a number of things we can offer them as a test facility.”

The project is in the very early stages of planning, Cote said, and the submission of the application is the first step in a long-term process that will include a feasibility study on the ability of the river to produce power as well as an environmental study of the region to identify potential environmental impact.

“We want to do an evaluation of the marine life and other environmental impacts that potentially could occur,” he said. “We believe that this is an environmentally friendly technology and that there will be minimal impact to the river.”

Part of the evaluation process will be to demonstrate that that is the case, he said.

The evaluation process will identify potential platform sites on the river that would provide a dedicated site at which to conduct long-term evaluation of tidal energy devices for different developers such as designers and manufacturers, government agencies, and scientific and educational institutions.

The project would include underwater foundations, anchor points, instrumentation and power cable connections back to a shore substation for six or more underwater test sites. An operations center, containing data collection and storage systems, workshops, offices and electrical distribution and power control systems would be located at a new or existing building on the campus.

The application identifies two specific sites on the Bagaduce River, one at the Castine waterfront near the MMA dock, the second at The Narrows north of Castine where the river flows into Northern Bay and South Bay. The evaluation process will look at other sites in between those areas.

Although the project is not a power plant, the testing and evaluation of the generating devices will generate power, which the college will use to offset electricity use on campus, Cote said.

“In order to be tested, these devices have to be loaded and generating power,” he said. “The power is a side benefit, but if we don’t use it, it’s wasted.”

MMA will serve as the host institution representing a public-private consortium of entities interested in the exploration and development of renewable energy sources.

In addition to the college, the consortium is composed of Canberra Corp. of Pittsfield, which previously has been involved in a wide variety of construction projects including conventional, hydroelectric and nuclear power generating stations; Marinas Power of Houston, Texas., which develops and finances renewable energy technologies and projects including tidal and wave energy extraction devices and offshore wind energy projects; and OceanWorks International, a Canadian company which designs and manufactures complex underwater work systems.

MMA administrators see the project as a good fit for the college, both in its geographic location and as an educational institution. It offers the opportunity for students and faculty members to meet the trustees’ goals of getting more involved in applied research on campus, according to Ellie Courtemanche, MMA’s chief advancement officer.

“This is an exciting opportunity for students and faculty to be involved in cutting-edge research in renewable forms of alternative energy,” Courtemanche said. “It’s an opportunity for us to look at the environmental impact and the effectiveness of these tools. As a side benefit, it will produce energy which we can use to reduce energy costs on campus and, if there is excess, potentially to local communities.”

MMA students and faculty have been involved with energy production using fossil fuels for years, according to John Barlow, vice president for academic affairs at the college.

“This is a chance for us to be involved in applied research, practical research, not just for our engineering students, but for students in the marine biology and marine sciences as well,” Barlow said.

Barlow said students and faculty members will be involved in all areas of the initial evaluation program and with the operation of the testing center once it becomes operational.

The evaluation process could take some time, Cote said, and it could be 2010 before the consortium is ready to put anything in the water. The FERC process will require public hearings before approving the placement of test platforms in the river, and Barlow said the college likely will schedule local meetings to discuss the project with area residents.