CASTINE, Maine - Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) and its industry partners engaged in exploring the possibility of establishing a Tidal Energy Device Evaluation Center (TEDEC) in waters local to Castine, will host an open forum on Wednesday, April 30. The goal of the forum is to seek and incorporate community input into the planning process. The public discussion will be held from 7-9 p.m., in the Harborview Room of the Harold Alfond Student Center on the Maine Maritime Academy campus in Castine. Further information on TEDEC, may be obtained at http://tedec.mma.edu/.

The forum, convened by Maine Senator Dennis Damon, (D-Hancock), will begin with an overview of the proposed project. An extensive question and answer period will be held to allow the participation of all attendees. The goal of the meeting is to identify community concerns and interests and to establish a format for dialogue.

The meeting will be facilitated by Ron Beard, coordinator of Maine Solutions, a program of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension tasked with facilitating collaboration and cooperation between businesses, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and citizens groups to connect their resources, expertise, and interests in forming sustainable community projects.

Maine Maritime Academy is the host institution of TEDEC, a consortium between MMA and 3 private companies engaged in the emerging ocean energy industry - Cianbro Corporation, Marinus Power, and OceanWorks International. In October 2007 MMA received a preliminary permit from the United States Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC). The permit allows MMA legal rights to evaluate several sites on the Bagaduce River identified by the Electric Power Research Institute suitable for tidal energy generation.

Pending the results of the exploratory phase of the permitting process, the cooperative group intends to provide a tidal energy device evaluation center to economically and efficiently test and evaluate a variety of tidal energy devices currently under development around the world. The proposed center would also provide educational and research opportunities for students and faculty of the college, and potentially generate electricity from a locally available, renewable, and clean energy source.

Source: Maritime Global Net

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