American Tidal Energy Project

A historic project aiming to harness the power of Cook Inlet tides to generate clean, predictable, renewable energy for the Kenai Peninsula.

Overview

Fall 2026 Update: ORPC is entering Phase 2 of the ATEP project

The American Tidal Energy Project’s (ATEP) objective is to develop an Alaska-based 1 megawatt (MW) to 5 MW tidal site that integrates the best available tidal energy technologies to provide power to the grid and alternative end users. We aim to involve the Kenai Peninsula community and local environmental stakeholders in the vision for and implementation of a commercial tidal energy project.

ORPC is now in Phase II development of ATEP, moving the project from site assessment toward implementation readiness through engineering, environmental, regulatory, stakeholder engagement, commercial, community, and market development activities necessary to support the responsible future deployment of tidal energy technologies in Cook Inlet.

Initial stages of ATEP are funded in part by the Department of Energy’s Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office. ORPC is functioning as a project developer and a potential technology provider.

Cook Inlet Potential

Tidal power in Cook Inlet can provide more than 100% of energy needs in the South Central Alaska region. The tidal energy resource potential of Cook Inlet is estimated to be 80 terawatt hours per year (TWh/yr)—this is more than 15 times the present-day electricity consumption of the Alaska Railbelt grid running 700 miles from Fairbanks to Homer.
East Foreland is considered the premier tidal energy development site in the United States.
Measured water velocity at East Foreland can reach up to 4 meters per second—that’s approximately 9 miles per hour.
Tidal energy can play an important role in decarbonizing Alaska’s Railbelt grid with clean, predictable energy.

AMERICAN TIDAL ENERGY PROJECT

Project Schedule

Geophysical site surveys

Hydraulic analysis and modeling

Ice assessments

Marine mammal studies

Sensitive habitat assessments

Technology application and interconnection engineering design

Manufacturing and supply chain planning

Health & safety planning and risk management

Market analysis and commercialization

Stakeholder Engagement

Connect with ATEP

Please contact to learn more about the project.

Project Timeline

During Phase I of the ATEP project from 2024-2025, ORPC completed initial engineering investigations, environmental baseline studies, stakeholder outreach and agency consultation.

Phase II builds on this progress with a series of activities focused on environmental monitoring, development and site readiness expected to run through June 2028.

Project Technologies

ORPC has selected two tidal energy technologies for further development in the project: the Proteus AR Series and the TidGen Power System.

Learn more about each technology on our Media page.

Regulatory and Environmental Process

The ATEP team provides leadership in the permitting and licensing process by working with subject matter experts, national laboratories and universities, and state and federal regulators to understand the potential interactions of a marine energy project with the marine environment.

As project lead, ORPC has developed and implemented an adaptive management approach for past projects designed to monitor and mitigate project risk. We place strong emphasis on early and consistent resource agency consultation and minimizing effects to the marine environment through the design of our power systems and careful siting of projects.

Adaptive Management Fact Sheet

Licensing and permitting requirements for the project are anticipated to include:

ORPC will work with resource agencies and local stakeholders to complete detailed consultations for endangered species, historic resources, and many more consultations that are part of the FERC licensing process.

FERC Licensing

ORPC holds a FERC preliminary permit (P-15116) for development of the East Foreland Tidal Energy Project at the East Foreland site. ORPC applied for a FERC preliminary permit on April 29, 2021, and it was issued by FERC on July 26, 2021. A FERC preliminary permit does not allow ORPC the ability to construct anything at the site, but rather grants ORPC the ability to study the site without competition as well as maintain priority to file a license application with FERC.

The ATEP project assists with funding the initial development of a broader East Foreland tidal energy initiative. ORPC will maintain the name East Foreland Tidal Energy Project under project licensing and permitting documentation.

The following area outlined within our FERC preliminary permit is being assessed by ORPC for development of the project.