Background

Hydrovolts grew out the most advanced study of tidal power feasibility in the USA to date.  In 2005 the City of Tacoma, Washington proposed a 16 MW renewable tidal power project in the Tacoma Narrows of Puget Sound in Washington State.  Tacoma Power, the city electric utility, hired Hydrovolts founder Burton Hamner and his company Puget Sound Tidal Power LLC (now Hydrovolts, Inc.) for the Tacoma Narrows Tidal Power Feasibility Study in February 2007. 

The study team included 8 leading marine engineering and environmental permitting companies, and three University of Washington professors.  The team conducted advanced 3-D current modeling and field studies, location and power analysis for turbines, a survey of all the existing tidal and river turbine technology, and permitting and economic analysis.  The study concluded in December 2007 that utility-scale tidal power generation is very challenging and it is not economically competitive at the Tacoma site. 

On March 1 Tacoma Power announced that the study is available for public distribution.  Download the report (12 MB) HERE.  Tacoma Power commended the team for its outstanding work. 

Although very large tidal turbines are not currently feasible at the Tacoma site, the team recognized that tidal turbine technology will be successful at a smaller scale in rivers, canals and waterways.  Following the Tacoma study, Hamner re-organized PSTP as Hydrovolts, Inc. The new company has invented and and is patenting two new in-stream hydrokinetic turbines based on radical innovations in other industries.  These new turbines will revolutionize renewable in-stream power generation and make it cost-effective around the world.