Feds approve test of tidal turbines by Everett utility
Mar 21, 2014, 8:37 AM | Updated: Mar 24, 2014, 10:03 am
Tidal power will get a tryout in Washington. Over protests, an Everett utility has won the right to test tidal turbines at the bottom of Puget Sound.
Federal regulators have issued a 10-year license to the Snohomish County Public Utility District (PUD) No. 1, which hopes to place two turbines, each about 20-feet in diameter, on the bottom of Admiralty Inlet.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the 600-kilowatt Admiralty Inlet Project, “an innovative attempt to harness previously untapped energy resources,” said Acting FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur in a press release.
A California company, Pacific Crossing, that owns two trans-ocean fiber optic telecommunications cables that run nearby failed to stop the estimated $20 million experimental project. FERC concluded that the project would not pose a risk to the cable.
The project is “designed to study, monitor, and evaluate the environmental, economic, and cultural effects of hydro-kinetic energy,” according to FERC.
The utility plans a 3-5 year test to learn if tidal power is efficient and cost effective, before removing the turbines. The soonest the turbines could be operating is next year.
