Promoting the sustainable development of renewable
energy in New England ocean waters.
Surveying was conducted in Cape Cod Canal in advance of Tidal Test Site

UMass Dartmouth's Inshore Pyramid Camera being lowered under the bridge in the Cape Cod Canal.
(Bourne, MA)  This past week there was some pretty cool equipment deployed in the Cape Cod Canal. To understand the sea bed at the place where there will be a tidal test site installed (later in the fall 2016) scientists from UMass Dartmouth went out in their 23 ft. Robalo power boat to photograph the bottom. They lowered a tripod camera down to take detailed video of what the sea floor in the Cape Canal looks like. The system is called the Inshore Pyramid Camera and it was lowered at over 100 stations near and around the rail road bridge. The photographs will be analyzed by the team to determine what types of organisms, plants and fish are there. They can also tell what type of material is on the bottom such as sand, silt, mud or gravel. All this information is going to be used to determine the best spot to place the structure that will hold the experimental turbines. The survey will be repeated after turbine testing to determine if there is any impact on the ecosystem.

Survey grid for UMass Dartmouth SMAST video survey.
The second survey, performed by Teledyne RI Instruments of Poway, CA and a company from North Carolina,  3-D WaterCube mapped the water flows and velocities in the water near the railroad bridge.  They used a remotely operated surface vehicle, called O-Boat, equipped with a Teledyne RI Acoustic Dopler Current Profiler (ADCP). O-Boat is a floating vehicle about the size of a small row boat that can be directed from shore or a boat to survey the water column looking for "sweet spots" where the water turbulence is particularly energetic and may be a good place to set up the tidal test structure.  This information will be important in developing an installation plan for the test structure.

Teledyne Oceanscience's O-boat.
This type of work would have taken a week or longer years ago because the instruments would have been placed in the water for longer periods of time to get the same data. Once the test site is installed it will be sending water velocity data as well as underwater video of the turbine(s) to interested parties.

MRECo
MRECo New England is a non-profit bringing together scientists, engineers, from government, industry and academia to bring ocean power to New England. They have just received a grant from the MA Seaport Council to design and install a test site for tidal power devices. They are working now to answer environmental questions that are required by various government agencies to ensure there will not be any harm done to the canal, to the marine life in the canal or any interference to navigation. The Army Corps of Engineers operates the canal and MRECo must abide by strict regulations for this test site. When it is fully permitted, it will be the first permanent tidal test site installed in US waters.

Save the Date! 

MTS techsurge

MTS TechSurge: Production of Renewable Ocean Energy for Small, non-Grid Connected Applications takes place Nov. 2-3, 2016 in Portsmouth, NH. 

The deadline for the Call for Abstracts has been extended to July 31, 2016. Please go to the link here to see what the categories for submission are and consider sharing your latest design with colleagues. Depending on the number of submissions there will be an opportunity to publish the presentations in the Marine Technology Journal.
        MOTN
Teledyne Marine   OGI   Marien Technology Society

Sponsors of this event include, MRECo, OWET, MOTN, Teledyne, OGI and of course, the Marine Technology Society. Additional sponsors are welcome. 

Contact: Maggie Merrill @ MRE Committee Chair at maggielmerrill@gmail.com
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