USA: Alaska Studies Tidal Power Potential

A research project has commenced to study the potential power of ocean currents in False Pass, Alaska.

Two acoustic current Doppler profilers were placed in False Pass last week. They will collect data on the volume and speed of water moving through for about five weeks.

The Dutch Harbor Fisherman cites Bruce Wright, a senior scientist for the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association Alaska, as saying that Alaska has vast natural resources.

This non-profit organization was recently granted a USD 200,000 by the Department of Energy to survey tidal energies.

The Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) is contracted to carry out the research, another in a myriad of similar studies ORPC is conducting across the country. The company says that Alaska holds 90% of the total tidal power potential in the U.S.

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Offshore WIND staff, October 8, 2012; Image: ORPC