Alaska tidal energy conference scheduled

The Alaska Energy Authority is holding Alaska’s first tidal energy conference in the Ted Ferry Conference Center in Ketchikan on Jan. 23 and 24. A variety of experts will give presentations and the public is invited to attend.

AEA is investigating alternative energy sources, including tidal power, as replacements for diesel fuel in some areas of Alaska.

Conference presentations will include:

• A tidal energy overview;

• A report on Verdant Power’s New York city East River environmental study;

• The tidal energy resources of selected southeast Alaska sites;

• Environmental and regulatory permitting;

• Tidal energy devices nearing commercialization; and

• Opportunities and obstacles to project development.

Speakers will include Roger Bedard, Electric Power Research Institute ocean energy project manager and co-author of EPRI’s international studies and reports on wave and tidal energy; and Trey Taylor, co-founder and president of Verdant Power, a company that specializes in generating electricity from natural underwater currents.

In addition to AEA, Ketchikan Public Utilities; Alaska Electric Power and Light Company; Alaska Power and Telephone; and the Denali commission are sponsoring the conference.

For more information or to register contact Kim Hendricks at [email protected] or (907) 228-5446.

—Alan Bailey