The China Energy Conservation Environment Protection Group (CECEP) and US tidal power developer Verdant Power have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop tidal energy power projects in China.
The MoU – which has been billed as the first of its kind between China and the US involving marine and hydrokinetic power projects – marked a stop on US Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s three-day clean energy trade mission in China.
“Marine kinetic hydropower is an energy resource that is greatly underused – but which must play a greater role in the future if ‘sustainable hydro power’ is to be achieved,” said Ronald Smith, CEO of Verdant Power. “This historic signing is a significant first step for both countries in the collaborative development of this type of renewable energy.”
The MOU establishes tidal and river power devices as a new stream of US exports to international markets.
Verdant Power is currently developing sustainable tidal power projects in the US and Canada. In New York City’s East River, the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project will be the first grid-connected project that will provide New York City and the metropolitan area with up to 500MW of electricity from a field of underwater MHK turbines.
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