Maine tidal project preliminary permit issued

A tidal energy developer has been granted a preliminary permit to study a proposed project in Western Passage, near the city of Eastport, Maine.

Under the Federal Power Act, most grid-connected tidal power projects require licensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  Section 4(f) of the Federal Power Act authorizes the Commission  to issue preliminary permits to allow prospective applicants for a hydropower license time to secure the data and perform the acts required to prepare a license application.  A preliminary permit preserves the holder's right to have first priority in applying for a license for the project being studied.

On December 4, 2015, ORPC Maine, LLC applied for a preliminary permit to study the feasibility of the proposed Western Passage Tidal Energy Project No. 14743.  As described in that application, the project would include fifteen of ORPC's proprietary 500-kilowatt hydrokinetic marine turbine-generator units for a combined capacity of 7.5 megawatts, along with anchoring and mooring systems, and transmission lines running ashore to an existing distribution line.  The materials describe an estimated average annual generation of 2.6 to 3.53 gigawatt-hours.

The Commission granted that preliminary permit by an order dated July 13, 2016.  In that order, the Commission addressed comments filed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and an individual.

In its comments, the tribe raised concerns over what the Commission calls "site banking".  As described by the Commission, the essence of its policy against site banking is that "an entity that is unwilling or unable to develop a site should not be permitted to maintain the exclusive right to develop it."  In some cases, the Commission invokes its policy against site banking to deny applications for successive preliminary permits.

The tribe questioned whether ORPC Maine should be granted a new preliminary permit when it has held two prior preliminary permits for the site of the proposed Western Passage Project -- the first issued in 2007, and a successive permit in 2011 -- without ever filing a development application. 

But in ORPC's case, the Commission noted that the project site has been unencumbered by a permit since ORPC's most recent permit expired in 2013, and that no other entity has filed a preliminary permit or development application for the site.  The Commission concluded that "a sufficient amount of time has passed for any other entity interested in developing the Western Passage Project site to have filed a preliminary permit or development application for the site and none has done so. Consequently, issuing a permit at this time to ORPC Maine for this site would not contribute to site banking."

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.

September 3, 2010 - Elwha dam removal; Northwest Passage

Hydroelectricity: I'm continuing to follow the removal of two dams on the Elwha River in Washington.

Here is a map I created showing the two dam sites.

Here is the Bureau of Reclamation's information on sedimentation behind the Elwha River dams: nearly 18 million cubic yards of sediment behind Glines Canyon Dam and Elwha Dam.  The Bureau gives this history:

Private companies constructed two large dams on the Elwha River during the early 1900’s. Elwha Dam, constructed during the period 1910-13, is a 105-foot high concrete gravity dam that forms Lake Aldwell 8 miles upstream from the river's mouth. Glines Canyon Dam, built in 1927, is a 210-foot high concrete arch dam that forms Lake Mills 13 miles upstream from the river's mouth. When the dams were first built, they were significant producers of electricity on the Olympic Peninsula. Today, the dams are operated in a run-of-the river mode and generate about 40 percent of the electricity needs for the Diashowa America paper mill in Port Angeles, Washington.

The Bureau also has interesting information on erosion after drawdown.  As we've seen before, drawdown can be done to minimize harms but can also cause serious problems if the newly exposed slopes of the impoundment or riverbank are unstable.




Meanwhile, in Maine, a graphic example of how business climate can make a difference: an entire lumber mill, closed for the past four years, is up for sale and might be moved piece by piece to Siberia.  People often talk about how jobs move overseas; here, not only the (already lost) jobs but the workplace may move.
The situation on the Sebasticook River continues to brew after the Fort Halifax dam removal; now, town officials are considering a renewed investigation into erosion of the riverbanks after drawdown and dam breach.

An interesting bit of fisheries news: Native Americans from the Passamaquoddy Tribe continue to fish federal waters, despite being cited for lack of permits and certain mandatory safety gear during a scallop fishing trip off Nantucket.  The natives point to their indigenous fishing rights.

Arctic news: I have a special interest in the Canadian Arctic, including the fabled Northwest Passage.  Today comes news that a fuel tanker has run aground along that shipping route on a sandbar near Gjoa Haven.

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.