ORPC Alaska The Future of Tidal Energy on the Railbelt gy Alaska - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

ORPC Alaska

The Future of Tidal Energy on the Railbelt gy

Alaska Rural Energy Conference April 28, 2010

Monty Worthington, Director of Project Development, Alaska

Ocean Renewable Power Company Overview Overview

• Developer of technology

and proj ects that convert i tid l d

• Founded in 2004 with

executive offices in Portland,

river, tidal, and ocean currents into emission free electricity

Maine and proj ect offices in

• Anchorage, AK (ORPC Alaska,

LLC)

• Eastport Maine (ORPC
• Eastport, Maine (ORPC

Maine, LLC)

• Proprietary technology

including OCGen™ , TidGen™ , g , , and RivGen™ power systems

• Proj ect sites in Cook Inlet and

Nenana, AK, and Eastport, ME , , p ,

• Beta Turbine Generator Unit

(TGU) deployed in March 2010

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Tidal Energy potential on the Railbelt – Cook Inlet Cook Inlet

• Cook Inlet has the 2nd Highest

Tidal Range in North America Tidal Range in North America peaking at 40 feet.

• Prime Tidal Current sites In

Cook Inlet are Near to electrical Infrastructure including: Infrastructure including:

• Northern Cook Inlet sites,

Knik Arm, Turnagin Arm, Fire Island, Anchorage waterfront

• Middle inlet sites at the
• Middle inlet sites at the

Forelands near to Natural Gas Infrastructure and Kenai

• Lower inlet sites including

Kachemak Bay near Homer Kachemak Bay near Homer S eldovia, Port Graham and Nanwalek

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Upper Cook Inlet tidal surface currents

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Cook Inlet Tidal Height Stations g

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Cook Inlet Tidal Current Stations

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Continuous power availability with multiple sites Continuous power availability with multiple sites

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FERC preliminary permits in Cook Inlet

• ORPC’s Cook Inlet Tidal Energy Proj ect
• Little S

usitna Construction Company’s

• ORPC s Cook Inlet Tidal Energy Proj ect

2nd Preliminary Permit applied for 3/ 31/ 10 Little S usitna Construction Company s Turnagain Arm Tidal Electric Generation Proj ect

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Tid l t h l i Tidal technologies

• 5 years ago

5 years ago …

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Tid l t h l i Tidal technologies

• Today!

Today!

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Two Basic Turbine Variations –Axial Flow and Cross Flow

Axial Flow Axial Flow Cross Flow Marine Current Turbines 1.2 MW S ea Gen New Energy’s 5kW Encurrent Turbine

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ORPC Technology Evolution

TidGen™ Power System Beta TGU

Proprietary TGU is the core of three hydrokinetic power systems

TidGen™ Power System

Bottom mounted TGU for shallow tidal applications

OCGen™ Power System

Floating OCGen™ Modules (stacked TGUs) for deep tidal and offshore

• cean current applications

RivGen™ Power System

Bottom mounted TGU for remote river applications remote river applications

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ORPC’s Beta Turbine Generator Unit (TGU)

Weight: 13 tons Design capacity: 14 feet Design capacity: 60 kilowatts S teel and composite TGU support frame 14 feet tall Underwater Permanent Magnet Generator ADCF Turbine

Visual Comparison –TGU & 6’ Tall Human

The Energy Tide 2

• Barge Facts:
• Barge Facts:

 60’ long x 24’ wide with 6’ hull side  Displacement capacity of 75 tons

• Beta TGU deployed 21’ below water (TGU center)
• Variable voltage variable frequency electrical
• Variable voltage, variable frequency electrical
• utput converted into grid-compatible power
• Includes state-of-the-art environmental monitoring

equipment (Didson, Simrad, etc.)

• System operations monitored using 4 underwater
• System operations monitored using 4 underwater

cameras (2 color, 2 black & white)

• Operational parameters monitored & data recorded
• Anchored in Cobscook Bay, ME using a 4-legged

single point mooring system single point mooring system

Flo w

ORPC’s Beta TGU and ET2

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Energy Tide 2 at mooring

Beta TGU turbine first rotations

TidGen™ Device - a closer look

• Tidgen™

TGU will be rated at 150-200kW in a 6 knot current

• TidGen™

TGU Will utilize (4) Beta sized turbines – 8.5 ft dia. X 18 ft long each 18 ft long each

• TidGen™

TGU will be 90’ x 14’ and 30’ above the seafloor TidGen™ Devices and

• TidGen™

Devices and Bottom frame will weigh approximately 60 tons and will be separately installed installed

• TidGen™

Device footprint will consist of (4) 6’ diameter feet.

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OCGen™ Module - a closer look

• OCGenTM Modules will be

attached to the seafloor via a compliant mooring system with screw type, gravity based, or driven anchors.

• OCGenTM Modules will be

comprised of 1 to 4 TidGenTM Type TGU’s each 90’ x 14’ .

• OCGenTM Modules will utilize

1/ 10th the weight and amount 1/ 10 the weight and amount

• f materials for bottom

attachment decreasing cost of the attachment system.

• OCGenTM Modules will minimize
• OCGenTM Modules will minimize

benthic disturbance with as little as (4) 2’ diameter footprints per module

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ORPC’s Cook Inlet Tidal Energy Project

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Resource at Fire Island Site

Summary Statistics

Reported at middle of water column Site ADM‐1 ADM‐2 ADM‐3 Cook Velocity NaN NaN NaN NaN Mean speed (m/s) 1 05 1 08 1 12 1 28 Mean speed (m/s) 1.05 1.08 1.12 1.28 Max sustained speed (m/s) 2.73 2.93 2.91 2.78 Ebb/flood asymmetry 0.97 0.95 0.96 0.85 Vertical shear (m/s per m) 0.0108 0.0236 0.0178 0.028 Power NaN NaN NaN NaN Mean power density (kW/m2) 1.28 1.51 1.34 1.71 Ebb/flood asymmetry 0.91 0.91 0.88 0.55 Direction NaN NaN NaN NaN Principle axis (deg) 139 132 137 66 Standard deviation (deg) 11 6 12 4 Ebb/flood asymmetry (deg) 15.1 4.1 26.3 6.2

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What is the long term potential of Tidal h lb l Energy on The Railbelt?

• Overall resource is little understood - Cairn Point area

Alone has at least 117MW of average power Alone has at least 117MW of average power

• Estimate that 100+ MW of power could be extracted

from the Forelands Area, with potential to repurpose existing energy infrastructure N th I l t d K h k B ld lik l

• Northern Inlet and Kachemak Bay would likely

contribute up to 100 MW

• S

taggered phases of inlet tides will allow for predictable energy delivery and provide capacity for b l d baseload power

• In combination with the development of other Cook

Inlet Region renewable resources such as Fire Island Wind and other wind proj ects, Mt. S purr Geothermal, d di i l h d j Tid l E ld b and traditional hydro proj ects, Tidal Energy could be a significant part of a diversified and robust renewable energy portfolio to extend natural gas viability and supply the maj ority of Railbelt energy needs

Thank you

Questions?

• www. ocea nr enewa bl epower. com

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Turbine spinning