Tidal power in Cobscook Bay - preliminary results called "promising".

Pretty much a puff piece, but there is some cause for optimism there too.

Tidal Power System Tests Yield Promising Results
Maine Public Radio News. 08/18/2010 11:57 AM ET  

That's according to Ocean Renewable Power Company, which has been testing an ocean energy power plant installed in Cobscook Bay off Eastport.

Tests of a system designed to extract energy from Maine's tides are yielding promising results. That's according to Ocean Renewable Power Company, which has been testing an ocean energy power plant it installed in Cobscook Bay off Eastport.

The company says the 60-kilowatt Beta Power System has successfully generated "grid-compatible" power from the bay's tidal currents. The company plans to use the test results to fine-tune the design of a commercial version scheduled to be installed in Eastport next year.

That so-called TidGen system, which will be connected to the New England power grid through Bangor Hydro Electric Company, is expected to generate enough electricity to power 50 to 75 homes, company officials say.

"Proving the efficacy of the Beta Power System and its ability to generate grid-compatible power day in and day out is a huge milestone for America's ocean energy industry," says ORPC President and CEO Chris Sauer in a statement announcing the results. "It reaffirms the limitless opportunities to advance the nation's renewable energy agenda and ensure a more sustainable future."

Company officials say tidal power has the potential to be a billion dollar industry in Maine within the next decade, and generate hundreds of jobs.

GOM WindRush wannabes speak at Samoset - audio recording

The Great Gulf of Maine Gold Rush/Wind & Tide Rush is on. Venture capitalists want to lease vast areas of the GOM & its tidal rivers for lunar energy extraction. Listen to extraction innovators they would finance. They brought their ideas on hitting up Nature for wind, wave, tidal, current, thermal and solar juice, to EnergyOcean09 held 6/18/ 09 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine.

State & fed regulators too, showcased their new products, especially Interior Dept's offshore renewable energy program /

There was also a report by the MMS' s senior marine biologist Donna M. Schroeder of the Minerals Management Service that finds likely no impact to Gulf of Maine from 1,000s of power towers & cables, beyond more vertical habitat bringing in a different ecological group of species that are attuned to offshore pilings.