The City of False Pass and Ocean Renewable Power Company are taking the next step toward evaluating tidal power as an alternative to diesel-generated electricity, with the company applying for a one-year state land-use permit to collect data in Isanotski Strait.
The Portland, Maine-based company plans to deploy acoustic Doppler current profilers at two locations on the seafloor to measure water velocity and assess the strait's hydrokinetic energy potential. The devices would remain in place for approximately 35 days to capture a full tidal cycle. The current permit application covers only resource measurement and not electricity generation.
"What's in permitting phase right now is not the actual technology for producing electricity from the tides, it's just for measuring the resource," Nathan Johnson, the company's vice president of development, said.
Johnson said the waters around False Pass offer strong potential for tidal power because of the predictable, high-velocity currents flowing through the narrow strait. Taylor St. John, the company's digital marketing specialist, said the location is "one of the best potential sites for tidal generation in Alaska, even in the United States."
The project is aimed at reducing the community's dependence on diesel fuel, which is shipped annually to the remote fishing community of about 50 year-round residents. False Pass serves as an important commercial fishing community and sits along a major marine route connecting the North Pacific and the Bering Sea.
False Pass Mayor Nikki Hoblet said the community has been exploring tidal energy since about 2009 and sees the project as an opportunity to improve long-term energy reliability while reducing fuel costs.
"For future generations, the future of our community, I mean, we obviously cannot be dependent on diesel. We've been — that's all we use here is diesel," Hoblet said.
The current phase of the project is supported by $1.25 million in congressionally directed spending awarded to the city in 2023. The funding will help evaluate the feasibility of a hydrokinetic energy system and prepare the community's electric utility to accommodate renewable power if the project moves forward.
Ocean Renewable Power Company currently operates its RivGen hydrokinetic system in Igiugig, where it has generated electricity since 2019, and has completed tidal energy projects in Alaska, Ireland and Chile.
Before the data collection can begin, the Alaska Division of Mining, Land and Water must approve the company's land-use permit for the submerged sites in Isanotski Strait.
