Tidal power in the U.S. moved toward commercial viability this summer when Portland, Maine-based Ocean Renewable Power Co. successfully produced electric power from a tidal turbine it installed in Cobscook Bay in Eastport, Maine.
“I would say that it’s an important step forward,” says Paul Jacobsen, ocean energy leader for the Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, Calif., an organization that conducts electric research and development.