Coast Guard to harness power of tides

Turbines in waters off Maine could serve as model

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine – The US Coast Guard hopes to have a tidal power generator in the water by the end of the summer to provide electricity to its station in Eastport.

The agency wants to tap into the power of Eastport’s 20-foot tides and 6-knot currents to provide a secondary power source for its facilities in the far eastern Maine city, said Captain Jim McPherson, commander of the Coast Guard’s northern New England sector.

When the generator is installed, it would be the Coast Guard’s first move into tidal power, possibly making the station the first federal government building anywhere to utilize tidal power, he said. It could serve as a model for projects at Coast Guard stations in Alaska and Washington State, he said.

Tidal turbines are powered by current flows, much the way wind turbines are spun by moving air.

Boston Globe