Monday, 03 May 2021
ORPC, Inc., a developer of clean, renewable power systems that harness free-flowing rivers and tidal currents, has been selected by the Maine International Trade Center (MITC) as Innovator of the Year. ORPC’s RivGen® unit installed in Alaska is the longest operating river current energy converter in the Americas. A second unit will be installed there this summer. By providing fully renewable baseload power supply, the marine energy industry, is now ready to play a critical and essential role in achieving a 100 percent clean energy economy and net-zero emissions. Courtesy of ORPC
“ORPC’s talented US product development teams have created a suite of renewable power systems that are now ready for commercialization and capable of competing in the global marketplace,” said ORPC President John Ferland.
By Staff
ORPC Inc., a marine renewable energy business based in Portland, will receive $3.6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a device that converts energy from river currents into electric currents.
The grant, through the DOE Water Power Technologies Office, will fund the building, testing and operation of a modular current energy converter, according to a news release Tuesday. The work will expand earlier development ORPC began in 2019 with a $350,000 DOE grant.
Modular current energy converters ultimately could allow renewable energy production from river flow without the use of large infrastructure or specialized tools.
“Current energy conversion systems offer immense potential in Maine, where our rivers are great in number and great in strength,” U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, said in the release. “As a member of the House Appropriations Committee and a longtime advocate for funding for this program, I’m proud this large