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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 J U N E 1 5 , 2 0 2 0 F O C U S E N E R G Y / E N V I RO N M E N T a 2016 report by Navigant Consulting Inc. Other users are hospitals and former military bases like Brunswick Landing, which gets green power from a Midcoast Regional Development Authority-owned grid. From Maine to West Africa Besides the Isle au Haut project, Introspective Systems is in the bid- ding for a solar project on Matinicus Isle Plantation in a public procurement request for proposals that a spokesper- son says has attracted strong interest. It's also working on a project in Alaska, has projects in preliminary design across New England and the Mid-Atlantic. It also has projects in design in Israel and Norway and is talking to potential cus- tomers in Nigeria, Senegal and Ireland. To better reflect its work designing dynamic energy controls powered by artificial intelligence, it's now doing business as Dynamic Energy as it gets ready to make the jump from research to commercialization of the control- lers it's developed for Isle au Haut and other projects. ough not the only company to design artificial intelligence-based archi- tecture for microgrids, Aikin says she knows of no more secure systems. "I get a lot of researchers who say, 'It can't be done,' says Aikin, a Pennsylvania State University engineering graduate who spent her career as an energy engi- neer, architectural designer and business development executive and co-founder of Introspective Systems, which was incorporated in 2010 started operations in 2013 and employs nine people. Her answer: "It can be done." She says it's done with lots of "heavy- duty math," using algorithms developed by economists in the 1950s, includ- ing Nobel Laureate Kenneth Joseph Arrows, and market-based principles. e Isle au Haut system will balance power supply and demand with a grid that captures and stores surplus power via batteries and hot-water heat pumps. "ere's an analogy for every- thing in the grid," says Aikin, who likens a power generator in one of her company's microgrid systems to a Walmart warehouse, lines in the grid to store shelves and the battery to the back retail stock. "I can pick out every single part of the economic system and match it to the grid." Ocean of opportunity Like Aikin's company, Ocean Renew- able Power has a lot going on. In Maine, it has an existing licensed test site in Cobscook Bay on the Eastport-Lubec border that con- nects directly to Versant's regional grid. Eventually it plans to transition its tidal power development to Canada's Western Passage body of water on the Maine-New Brunswick border, adjacent to Eastport. at will be developed in conjunction with a smart microgrid project that would operate as part of the regional Versant grid or separately as the situation calls for, according to ORPC President John Ferland. e Portland-based company also operates an engineering and electron- ics laboratory and product testing and assembly facility in Brunswick, which Ferland says is not part of Brunswick Landing's TechPlace electricity service or solar installation. It also has a three-year river current- powered microgrid project in Igiugig, Alaska, that aims to help the remote com- munity reduce its use of diesel by 90%. "is is the preeminent hydro- kinetic project in the United States today and a model renewable energy solution for remote communities globally," says Ferland. Outside the country, it's completing a feasibility analysis of a microgrid and river power system project in Chile and awaiting funding announcements or work agreement approvals for projects in three Canadian provinces. "In the course of doing all this work in Maine," Ferland says, "an international market opened up for us, and the market is remote regions that pay a higher kilowatt per hour Progressive • Creative • Forward Thinking • Resourceful Progressive • Creative • Forward Thinking • Resourceful Come See Why Brewer Means Business. Your Business. BREWERMAINE.GOV/BIZ Contact D'arcy Main-Boyington Economic Development Director dmain-boyington@brewermaine.gov | 207-989-7500 C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » RivGen 2.0 Power System RivGen 2.0 Power System at anchor prior at anchor prior to submerging in Igiugig, Alaska, in 2019. to submerging in Igiugig, Alaska, in 2019. In the course of doing all this work in Maine, an international market opened up for us. — John Ferland Ocean Renewable Power Co. Inc. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY P H O T O / C O U R T E S T Y O R P C John Ferland, president of Ocean Renewable Power Co. Inc., says the company's river current-powered microgrid project in Igiugig, Alaska, will reduce diesel use in that remote community by 90%.

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