Promoting the sustainable development of renewable
energy in New England ocean waters.
 Wishing you have a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Professor Ken Baldwin of the Center for Ocean Renewable Energy at University of New Hampshire discussing the logistics of attaching a tidal turbine to the Memorial Bridge to power sensors on the bridge.




L-R. Ken Baldwin _UNH__ Maggie Merrill _MRECo_ and Cliff Merz Marine Technology Society Marine Renewable Energy leadership team.




Tech Surge:  Production of Renewable Ocean Energy for Small non-grid Connected Applications took place November 2-3, 2016 in Portsmouth, NH. This event was done in in conjunction with the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and was a great success.  John Miller gave a talk in a bar overlooking the river about ocean energy test facilities available in the Northeast. He spoke right after the crew from the University of New Hampshire presented their Living Bridge project which is scheduled to be installed on the Memorial Bridge which connects New Hampshire with Maine and runs over the Piscataqua River.

Over 50 people attended the tour and the talks the next day. It was a full agenda with lots of interaction between speakers and the audience. There is a lot of interest on the part of developers and government folks to keep tracking on small, non-grid connected applications for ocean energy devices. Speakers were given the option to submit their presentations for publication in an upcoming issue of the Marine Technology Journal.

Bourne Tidal Test Site (BTTS): We have received all but the MA Department of Environmental Protection Chapter 91 permit and final approval from the US Army Corps of Engineers to install the BTTS. Originally, our plan was to install by Christmas, now that we must await final permits and our manufacturer, MassTank (Middleboro, MA), determined we needed to use heavier (more expensive) steel, we will likely install the structure in the March/April, 2017-time frame. Our installer, AGM Marine Contractors (Mashpee, MA) are ready and waiting to mobilize when needed.
FSI (Falmouth, MA) has offered to provide a current meter to enable real-time velocity and direction data.

We are pleased to have such highly qualified contractors and equipment manufacturers right here in the Commonwealth.

NERACOOS:  In anticipation of transmitting data from the test site we have connected with NERACOOS to host and post our data so that everyone can get access to it. We intend to be pushing out current speed and direction, ADCP data, and energy output. This data will be used by us for operations of the site, the developers who will want to know what the flow environment is during their testing period, the MA Pilots Association and others who frequent the Cape Cod Canal. When operational, NERACOOS will make this node available on their web site just as they do with all their other partner's data streams. www.neracoos.org
Laurence Anderson, Physics teacher and students from Sandwich High School attended the SNEEF forum where John Miller talked about the status of Ocean Energy in New England.






Getting Kids Interested in Ocean Energy: We have organized a terrific webinar in collaboration with the COSEE at UMaine. The dates for that webinar are: Jan. 24, Jan. 26, and Feb. 7, 2017. Speakers include John Miller and Maggie Merrill (MRECo), Dave Bethoney (UMass Dartmouth SMAST); Jonathan Colby (Verdant Power), Diana Krupa (WaterCube), and a representative of the STEM program in Sandwich, MA. Details will follow. 
L-R Toby Stapleton, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and John Miller fielding questions at a recent Southern New England Entrepreneurs and Engineering forum. (SNEEF)
Out and About:  We have been on the speaker circuit this Fall. We have addressed the Cape Cod Technology Council, a University of Rhode Island Ocean Engineering class, a Boston University Clean Energy class, the Duxbury Alternative Energy Committee, and the Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum.

We have hired two interns: Chase Ferry is a Mechanical Engineer from UMass Dartmouth and is working on manufacturing issues with the fabrication of the test platform.  He worked in the Fall and will continue in the Spring.  Brianna Pingree is at Mass. Maritime Academy and will be working this winter to research the market for companies that might want to test their devices at the site as well as looking at some of the energy storage issues associated with the operations of the test site.

Thank you for your unending support and enthusiasm for the prospect of getting clean, renewable power from New England waters. 
STAY CONNECTED:
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MRECo
  Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative (MRECo)