A video produced and shown to selected audiences earlier this year is now available on line via the Tide Mill Institute’s YouTube channel. Sponsored by the Tide Mill Institute and Kennebunk Savings, the one-hour video, “The Tide Mills of the York River,” explores the remains of several York, Maine, tide mills using aerial drone photography and interviews with historians. The video includes an explanation of how tide mills work by Bud Warren, co-founder of TMI.

The first tide mill was erected on the York River in the early 1600s when Fernando Gorges sent men to the area for the purpose of building grist mills and saw mills. Tide mills continued operating on or near that river until the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Compiled by David Hoyle, Tide Mill Institute

General Interest

Volume 4 Issue 3 March – Hydro Leader
This marine energy issue of Hydro Leader magazine includes an informative interview with Stuart Davies, CEO of Ocean Renewable Power Corporation. Also included are some worthwhile interviews with other tidal and wave energy entrepreneurs.

USA

Tapping the power of the sea: Company to begin testing tidal systems again
ORPC plans to begin testing their Advanced TidGen device in Cobscook Bay starting in May 2023. It will use an existing bottom support frame, and will generate 100-120 kW of power (to be dissipated as heat). ORPC will move operations to the Western Passage in 2025, implementing a full scale system with four turbines. They also plan to develop their 1-2 MW Optimor system in Western Passage. They have an agreement with Versant Power for up to 5 MW of power. ORPC also has a DOE Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project or ETIPP project with Eastport for a smart micro-grid integrating tidal and solar power with battery storage.

Earthrise | Tidal energy in the Salish Sea
Interesting article about a project involving Orbital Marine Power (see below under UK) around the San Juan Islands in the Salish Sea off of Washington state.

Canada

Tidal power developer slams DFO for years of delays, stops application for N.S. project | CBC News
Sustainable Marine Power announced recently that they have scrapped plans for expanded deployment at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) test site due to permitting issues. This is seen as a blow to the tidal power industry at large.

Continue reading “Tidal Energy News Update: January – April 2023” →

After shutting down in 2022 when its pit wheel became loose on the water wheel axle, a historic tide mill in Totten, Hampshire, England, is once again producing flour with power provided by the tides. Eling Tide Mill is one of only a few tide mills in the world still producing flour regularly, according to the mill’s website.

A tide mill may have existed on the site as early as Roman times and the current building is more than 200 years old. The mill ceased operation in 1946, but restoration to an operating flour mill started in 1975 and it officially opened as a working museum in 1980. After the 2022 shutdown, repairs to the pit wheel began in November, 2022, and the mill was operating again by early February. Additional repairs are planned and may require some brief shutdowns in the near future.

Peter Ramm, miller at Eling, has provided a report on the repair. You can read it by clicking here.

by David Hoyle, TMI Leadership Team

The Tide Mill Institute’s leadership team is pleased to announce that TMI has joined the National Hydropower Association (NHA) for 2023. The NHA is a nonprofit national association dedicated to preserving and expanding clean, renewable, affordable hydropower and marine energy. The NHA’s mission is to champion waterpower as America’s premier carbon-free renewable energy resource.

Continue reading “Tide Mill Institute Joins National Hydropower Association” →

Compiled by David Hoyle, Tide Mill Institute

General Interest

This article provides explanations of the various types of tidal power generation systems along with excellent diagrams.
What is Tidal Energy? Advantages, Disadvantages, and Future Trends | Earth.Org

United States

The first of the following three articles is an Esquire interview on the topic of marine energy with Jennifer Garson and Tim Ramsey of the US Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office. The second and third articles describe current and future WPTO funding for tidal, wave, and river power generation technology developments.

With Marine Power, It’s Not the Size of Your Turbine, It’s the Motion of the Ocean
US DOE awards $12M for marine energy and hydropower projects
US Government invest $35m in tidal energy and river current systems

Continue reading “Tidal and Wave Energy News — December 2022” →

The first public showing of a new video, “The Tide Mills of the York River,” will take place on Thursday, December 8, at 7 p.m. at the Kittery (Maine) Community Center. This new 60-minute video explores the history of tidal-powered mills in York, Maine, which might have been the site of the first tide mill in Colonial America.

The video features aerial drone footage of tide mill sites along with interviews and presentations by Bud Warren and Deane Rykerson of Tide Mill Institute, Joel Lefever of Old York Historical Society, Emerson “Tad” Baker of Salem State College and Robert Gordon of Yale University. Tide Mill Institute and Kennebunk Savings sponsored the video, which was produced by Jim White of Spruce Creek TV and Deane Rykerson.

The showing is free and open to the public, and a panel discussion will follow. Reserve seats by calling 207-439-3800 in advance.

The production had been previewed in November by those attending the annual Tide Mill Institute Conference in Portland, Maine.