The US Department of Energy has granted $1.5 million to advance the commercialization of Ocean Renewable Power Company’s (ORPC) RivGen Power System.
The US Department of Energy has selected Alaskan village of Igiugig to receive up to $1,540,341 to further advance the design and operation of ORPC’s marine hydrokinetic technology for rivers.
ORPC demonstrated its RivGen Power System in the Kvichak River at Igiugig in 2014 and 2015 , displacing the community’s diesel fuel use by one-third, according to ORPC.
To initiate the project, the Energy Department has approved phase one funds in the amount of $392,500.
Chris Sauer , ORPC President and CEO, said: “We’re thrilled to continue work with our partners in Igiugig to reduce and stabilize their cost of energy, and in so doing, strengthen the community’s sustainability. We are moving forward to replicate our collaboration in Igiugig in other remote communities in Alaska, Canada and worldwide.”
Lisa Murkowski , Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said: “The Igiugig project is so important since the marine power device being developed there could well be utilized in dozens of river villages statewide to reduce the high cost of power. This truly could be the path to bringing affordable electricity to many rural villages, if the efficiencies and the durability being pioneered in Igiugig can be replicated statewide.”
The RivGen Power System is a 25 kW self-deploying submersible hydrokinetic system designed to reduce and stabilize the cost of power in remote communities located near rivers and tidal estuaries that currently use diesel fuel for power generation.
ORPC is a US-based in-river, tidal and deep-water ocean current power generation systems and projects developer.