Tidal Energy in the Salish Sea
Project on hold awaiting Department of Energy Funding
The Orcas Power & Light Cooperative team recently wrapped up phase one of the Rosario Strait Tidal Energy Pilot Project draft license application and now awaits the results of future grant funding from the Department of Energy. This phase of the process is preliminary and focused on early feasibility. Additional studies, analyses and reviews are needed to move this project forward. The draft license application was part of a competitive grant process for which OPALCO is one of two finalists. What was originally intended to be a result released in fall 2025 has been pushed back due to delays at the federal level. It is unclear when the decision about funding will take place. OPALCO has requested and been granted a delay in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission process to avoid further investment of time and resources by OPALCO, FERC, regulatory agencies, tribal nations and stakeholders until additional funding from DOE is secured.
In spring 2024, DOE awarded OPALCO a grant to study the feasibility of tidal energy in the Rosario Strait. The team spent a year taking an extensive first look at what tidal energy could mean for San Juan County and the greater Salish Sea community. The yearlong study was packaged in the form of a draft license application and submitted to FERC. The application compiles the best available science, presents the results of the site characterization studies and includes an analysis of the effects of the project on existing conditions. The work done to date is not considered complete, and the draft license application only accounts for about 10% of the analysis required in a process as extensive and prescribed as this.
If the project moves forward, there will be many additional studies, research, and analysis to be completed to make sure this is a viable energy source for this region and it meets the criteria for success on all fronts. The project must meet high standards, not just in terms of energy production but also environmental and fiscal responsibility.
Since 2022, OPALCO has been meeting and engaging with tribal nations to inform them of this project, answer questions and share progress updates. We are grateful for the relationships we have with them and for their meaningful feedback on this project for the past 3.5 years. The success of this project or projects like this rely on the support from and collaboration with tribal nations.
Tidal energy has great potential to supply us with carbon-free energy in this region—especially valuable during winter and night hours. By providing renewable power locally, projects like this could reduce reliance on carbon-based energy generation and long-distance, dam-generated energy imports, leading to broader environmental benefits for marine habitat and marine species.
