The narrow channels and strong currents of the Salish Sea could provide an ideal testing ground for tidal energy.
It is a promising technology. Unlike solar and wind, tides are consistent and reliable, not highly influenced by weather. Tides and currents can be forecast decades out.
But these waters, among the delicate channels and bays that make up an inland sea, are home to endangered killer whales and salmon, sensitive kelp beds and treaty fishing grounds. A large spinning turbine under the sea could spell trouble.
That’s the opposition California company Aquantis ran up against when it proposed to test a tidal turbine in Skagit Bay this spring, leading the state to pull funding for the project.
The state Commerce Department said this week it is yanking a $1.37 million grant, which represents about 25% of the project’s funding and grinding it to a halt.
A similar technology was dubbed an “orca blender” about 20 years ago when it was proposed for Puget Sound waters, according to a February letter from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to state agencies.
Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards wrote the tribe believed the project needed a thorough review of potential environmental and cultural resource effects prior to any in-water testing.
It appeared the first phase of the project was set to sail through to field testing without a formal public comment process. It did not appear the initial test would require any state permits.
The company said a National Environmental Policy Act review resulted in the determination of a categorical exclusion, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Fish and Wildlife determined no permits were needed.
Swinomish was only notified of the testing a handful of months before the company’s tow-tests were set to begin, Edwards said in an interview.
Tribal leaders had a short timeline to share concerns.
“It’s right here in our backyard,” Edwards said. “It’s important to my people, and we’re going to — at all levels — we’re going to protect it.”
Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn said he felt it was important to set a clear tone that the state respects the sovereignty of the tribes and values their partnerships and their relationships.
“If we want any hope in building clean energy and building it faster,” Nguyễn said, “we need to engage early on and in a respectful way.”
Tidal energy developers have been eyeing Salish Sea waters for years.
Lawmakers noted nine tidal and wave energy projects under development in the state when considering establishing a work group to make recommendations on how to permit those projects in 2008.
Tacoma Power explored and later abandoned those technologies in the Tacoma Narrows.
Snohomish Public Utility District pursued a tidal power study that evolved into a plan to place two turbines on the seafloor near Whidbey Island. The Tulalip Tribes and other tribal nations raised concerns about the lack of information about how the turbines might affect endangered species and treaty fishing.
The project was quashed after the cost roughly doubled and federal money fell through.
Tidal turbines operate on the same principles as wind, but instead are located in relatively narrow channels with fast-moving currents to rotate turbines and generate electricity.
These projects typically consist of rotor blades, a power train to convert mechanical power to electric power, a foundation that anchors the device on the seafloor and a subsea cable to carry the power back to shore.
A cohort of nearly a dozen developers are exploring the technologies with funding from a U.S. Energy program, said Brian Polagye, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington.
The Department of Energy in 2021 estimated the technical tidal resource of Washington to be enough carbon-free power for 281,000 homes.
Aquantis had contracted Culbertson Marine in Anacortes to assemble a 2-bladed, 33-foot turbine.
It had outlined a plan to attach the turbine to a barge, lower it about 21 feet below the water’s surface and operate in a current of about 4 knots. Aquantis had planned to conduct the test in the deepest waters between Yokeko Point and Skagit Island, with marine mammal observers aboard and a plan to stop if a marine mammal approaches.
A tugboat would push the barge during slack tides where vessel speed would dictate the turbine’s speed.
The next phase of the project proposal included a future three-month moored test of the turbine.
The test, Aquantis wrote in a February statement, is a “responsible step forward” to “learn about the benefits and impacts of this carbon-free energy source that holds great potential for the region.”
The tow testing of the turbine, as proposed, did not appear to require any state permits, said Jim Thornton, environmental permitting coordinator with the state Office for Regulatory Innovation and Assistance. Thornton said he would’ve needed more details to make a conclusive determination on what permits the test would have needed.
The office can guide businesses through what state and federal permits a project may need and offer an environmental characteristics and constraints analysis. Aquantis did not contact the office.
The path of the tow testing would have overlapped with a migratory path for spring Chinook salmon returning to the Skagit River.
Members of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission said in a meeting the project would affect most tribal nations in the state because of the interconnectedness of the region’s waterways.
As of last fall, there have been no observed marine mammal or seabird collisions with a tidal energy device. Those tests, however, were not conducted in the Salish Sea. It is not yet known whether an array of the devices could disrupt or displace species’ movement.
While Aquantis’ plans for testing are on hold, others are progressing around the Northwest.
The Orcas Power & Light Cooperative last week filed a draft license application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a 10-year pilot project license for a tidal energy project in Rosario Strait.
Swinomish requested additional time to comment on that project, citing a truncated timeline and lack of response to concerns and questions related to the project and its effects on marine life and treaty fishing activities.
The project is proposed for the middle of “critical habitat” for four Endangered Species Act-listed species.
The technology, Swinomish environmental policy director Amy Trainer wrote to FERC, has not been tested near migrating juvenile and listed Chinook salmon, a treaty resource, or the endangered southern resident killer whales that rely on them.
