TIDE POWER PROGRESS

It’s been more than 70 years since the Quoddy Tides project promised inexpensive, clean, renewable energy from Maine’s rising and falling ocean. That project, as well as other tidal power efforts, quietly disappeared for lack of funding. With the recent renewed focus on the need for alternative energy sources, tidal power is again in the mix, but economic, political and technical hurdles remains. A research project by Maine Maritime Academy and its partners could lower these hurdles.

Earlier this month, the academy filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a test facility near the Castine campus. The Tidal Energy Device Evaluation Center would test and evaluate tidal energy devices, which are primarily being developed by small private companies and academic institutions with limited resources. The center would be only the second in the world, with the other being in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland.

In testing devices, the center will produce some electricity, which the academy will use on campus.

In addition to helping fine-tune tidal power devices and determine where they should be located, the project will give MMA students hands-on experience in a growth industry. In addition to helping research and refine power generating systems, they will likely also learn about addressing environmental and local residents concerns, a major stumbling block to many alternative energy projects. This is the type of forward-looking project that Maine’s colleges and universities should encourage.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt pledged $7 million toward the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project. More than $5 million was spent in the summer and fall of 1935 and 5,000 people were hired to construct dams and worker housing. The Quoddy project was abandoned in 1936 when Congress failed to appropriate more money for it.

The proposal was revived in the 1960s as part of a plan to dam the St. John River and couple it with tidal power dams in Passamaquoddy Bay. Again, Congress did not appropriate funds for the project and the Dickey-Lincoln dam was finally scrapped due to environmental concerns.

Last year, the Electric Power Research Institute concluded that Maine has “a world class tidal resource” in the Western Passage in Passamaquoddy Bay because of the large tides in the area.

The institute encouraged more pilot projects, like the one proposed by MMA.

A Florida company recently received $300,000 from the Maine Technology Institute to test and develop a tidal power facility in Cobscook Bay.

With more attention turning to tidal power, Maine, with projects like MMA’s and the state’s commitment to alternative energy, is well positioned to play a leading role.