Washington Scuba Alliance

Tidal Power Project

Bill SB6111 has been drafted in the Washington Senate that will provide tax breaks for tidal power generation similar to other renewable energy sources like wind and solar. It is being sponsored by Senators Hobbs, Poulsen, and Jacobsen.

Additionally, it directs the Washington Dept. of Community, Trade, and Economic Development to conduct a stakeholder review of issues related to siting and operating tidal and wave energy projects.

Here is a link to the Snohomish PUD website where you can get a description of the project and view illustrations of turbine prototypes.

Mike Racine, President of the WSA received the following information on Tidal Power from Tom O'Keefe at American Whitewater:

With regard to tidal energy there are still some things that need to be figured out but at this point FERC is proceeding as the lead agency. Federal legislation could modify that role and this is an active area of discussion at the moment. On federally-licensed hydropower projects the process goes something like this:

Preliminary Permit: Applicant files for a preliminary permit and these are generally easy to get. They allow the applicant the opportunity to investigate a site and invest in site-specific research without having to worry about someone else coming along to steal the site from them.
Notice of Intent: This is the step where the public starts to have significant involvement. After doing initial studies the applicant determines that they would like to build the project but they have to go through several steps that involve coordination with the public and other agencies. Studies are conducted in coordination with stakeholders including the public and agencies. FERC coordinates this process but other agencies are represented and the goal is to get studies done that meet the permit requirements of all agencies.
License Application: After the studies are done the applicant files their license application. This is the proposal for the project and how it will be operated. The public can formally intervene and this begins the NEPA process. Various agencies will also begin working on permitting and the associated public process they go through (in hydro this includes Clean Water Act, consultation under ESA, etc.)
FERC Issues a License Order: Once all the information is in, an order is issued outlining the guidelines for construction and mitigation. Depending on the authority of the agency (e.g. DOE, NMFS, etc.) FERC may have to accept certain conditions as mandatory (i.e. they literally staple them to the back of the license order). They generally can not issue a license order until outstanding issues with these other permits are resolved (which can include litigation steps).
Implementation: parties accept the license or litigate the license itself in Federal Court
Project construction

All of the tidal energy projects considered for Puget Sound are in Step 1.

Presentation on tidal technology
March 6th 2007, 9-11AM

Rebecca Sherman, the Northwest Coordinator for the Hydropower Reform Coalition is inviting all energy and environment colleagues to a Tidal Technology discussion at the People for Puget Sound's Seattle offices. Details below:

Developing tidal areas for energy is an emerging industry with high focus on Washington state.

The immediate implications are local and political. Pursuant to I-937 (right-click, save), Washington's renewable portfolio standards include tidal development. Early "preliminary" permits have been requested for sites across Puget Sound, anticipating construction of banks of tidal instream energy conversion devices, or TISEC devices.

So what is this technology? What does a device look like, how does it work, how does it potentially affect the environment? How much power are we looking at? What regulatory paths do these technologies take, and what is Congress doing about it?

There are many variations on devices, and without a full operation, no one knows what the impacts will be. Let's discuss.

WHEN: March 6th, 9-11AM

WHAT: Presentation on tidal technology

WHERE: People For Puget Sound's Seattle offices, 911 Western Avenue, Suite 580. http://www.pugetsound.org/index/contact

WHO IS INVITED: Energy/environment colleagues

WHO IS SPEAKING:
Brian Polagye, a graduate student in the University of Washington's Mechanical Engineering Department. Brian assisted the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) with its TISEC national development program and has monitored Tacoma Power's Tacoma Narrows project in southern Puget Sound, the most advanced project in the Pacific Northwest.

Tidal Power in the News:
The Seattle Times - "Utility gets OK to start tidal-power study"
The News Tribune - "Narrows potential for power evaluated"

More information on the Tidal-Power study can be found on this thread at the Northwest Diver Forums