Nonprofit wins license to test minimal-impact tidal-driven turbines: ‘reliable, predictable and accessible’

With an eight-year federal license, the Cape Cod nonprofit uses the ocean’s tidal power to generate electricity.

The Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative has just been licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to test promising turbine prototypes.

These tests will take place just offshore in the Cape Cod Canal, and the energy generated will be transmitted directly to the New England power grid.

“Tidal energy is an important piece of the mix because it is reliable, predictable and available on coasts where population densities are highest,” said John Miller, executive director of the Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative.

Although the prototype will not generate much energy, it is worth it because it will demonstrate the utility and scalability of the turbine. With the new license, the nonprofit can test turbine designs at an unprecedented level and improve their efficiency, durability and impact.

“The idea is that people with new technologies can test them faster and cheaper,” Miller said.

Tidal turbines produce power by the flow of tides in the fast-moving waters of the canal. The Cape Cod testing site is the only one in the U.S. with this capability.

The Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative estimates that tidal energy could meet one-tenth of global electricity demand. The cooperative also states that local waters in Massachusetts have the energy potential of a nuclear power plant.

According to the nonprofit organization, “Tidal energy has been shown to have minimal environmental impact because the blades rotate slowly and, when placed on the ocean floor, have no visible impact on coastal beaches.”

The next step will be to run a power line between the land and the test platform, which will be suspended along the railway tracks to transmit electricity to the grid.

This electricity generation project complements other green energy ventures in New England, including Vineyard Wind, which is America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project. Located approximately 25 miles off the Massachusetts coast, it is projected to reduce harmful carbon pollution by more than 1.6 million tons annually and power more than 400,000 Massachusetts homes and businesses.

It also raises public awareness of tidal energy and the dynamics of the construction industry’s development of floating tidal turbines in U.S. waters.

“They should have done this 50 years ago,” one Facebook user commented on this story. As long as it doesn’t impact marine life, especially when passages are operating, then great,” another user added.

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