Oregon is set to test another buoy-based power generation system after the previous system sank two years ago.

Closer to home, plans to deploy a more traditional turbine-based system known as SeaGen in the Bay of Fundy were announced last year. An earlier Irish SeaGen installation has been operational for more than 1,000 hours since it was installed in 2008.

Both systems use “run-of-the-river” technologies which should minimize disruption of the surroundings, unlike the Annapolis basin installation also in the Bay of Fundy which operates more like a conventional hydroelectric dam.

Also of note, a relatively recent announcement about more cheap renewable energy in the future from north of the border into “Boston” which seems to have received little attention.