Ocean Renewable Power Company Receives Maine Technolgy Asset Fund Award
Innovative Energy Leader Awarded $800,000 -- Ocean Renewable Power Company, an industry-leading developer of tidal energy technology and projects based out of Portland, ME received a grant of more than $800,000 from Maine Technology Asset Fund to advance its proprietary technology.
PORTLAND, M.E., June 11, 2009 - Ocean Renewable Power Company, LLC (ORPC) announced today the award of over $800,000 of funding from the Maine Technology Asset Fund that will be used to build and test the commercial design of its proprietary tidal energy technology, which will increase the number of ocean energy jobs in Maine.
"I am pleased that Ocean Renewable Power Company has made important investments in tidal energy," said Governor Johon E. Baldacci. "Expanding Maine's renewable portfolio will lead to job creation in the ocean energy industry. I look forward to the company's new developments which will further improve our state's economy and commitment to renewable energy."
As a result of this award, ORPC Maine will advance its commercial TGU technology that will ultimately convert tidal currents around Eastport into a clean and predictable source of electricity. The project builds from a successful year of testing in 2008 that firmly established technical feasibility and will demonstrate the TGU's commercial viability for deployment in river and tidal projects. Commercializing the TGU will create hundreds of high quality jobs in Maine over the next five years and stimulate economic growth in coastal communities like Eastport.
"We are thrilled and honored to receive the Maine Technology Asset Fund award," stated Chris Sauer, President and CEO of ORPC. "As one of the few companies in the world to
generate emission-free electricity from ocean currents without using dams or impoundments, we
look forward to delivering to Maine both environmentally sustainable energy and significant economic development."
The Maine Technology Asset Fund is a two-year, competitive award program created by a $50 million economic development bond approved by the Legislature and voters in 2007. MTI awarded the funds based on criteria such as economic growth and impact on Maine, scientific and engineering merit, and team and institutional merit and commitment. The companies receiving funds may use them to recover expenses from facility construction and renovation, machinery and equipment, and land purchase for the awarded project.
About Ocean Renewable Power Company:
Ocean Renewable Power Company, LLC (ORPC) was founded in 2004 for the purpose of generating reliable, competitive, emission-free electricity from the virtually unlimited energy resources of the world's tidal, river and deep water ocean currents. ORPC has made great advances in the development of its proprietary ocean current generation (OCGen') technology and is developing tidal energy projects in three of America's most robust tidal energy resources: Western Passage and Cobscook Bay, Maine and Cook Inlet, Alaska.