Tidal Energy Making Waves — on the Mainland

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Here’s a nice tidal energy update from Civil Beat’s Sophie Cocke.

Our Land Blog reports:

Maybe we should all be listening to Cynthia Thielen more. The representative from Kailua is eager to tell anyone who will listen about the potential of wave energy to power Hawaii’s electricity needs. 

But the technology has trailed behind others when it comes to commercial success, and it hasn’t attracted much of a following in Hawaii compared to technologies such as geothermal, wind, solar and OTEC. 

However, Maine regulators are moving forward on tidal energy — not exactly wave energy, but close. 

You can read about it on Hawaii News Now: 

The Maine Public Utilities Commission set terms for a contract that would be in place for 20 years. The regulators also directed the three utilities to negotiate with Ocean Renewable Power Co. to put electricity onto the grid this summer, the first long-term power purchase agreements for tidal energy in the United States.

The technology is also attracting interest in New York City. Check out the video by Reuters:

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