Ferland named president of ORPC Solutions
File PHOTo / Tim Greenway
John Ferland, Ocean Renewable Power Co. vice president of project development, has been named president of ORPC Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary offering project development, licensing and strategic services to river and ocean energy projects.
Ocean Renewable Power Company has named John M. Ferland as president of ORPC Solutions, the Portland-based company’s wholly owned subsidiary offering project development, licensing and strategic services to river and ocean energy projects.
Ferland’s appointment, announced in a company press release on Tuesday, puts a seasoned entrepreneur at the helm of the start-up company ORPC created 15 months ago to capitalize on the market interest generated by two projects. One is its successful tidal energy pilot project in Eastport and last summer’s successful pilot project in a remote Alaskan village testing the company’s river power system. Ferland will continue in his role as ORPC's vice president of project development.
“John's winning approach to ORPC's project and market development, community outreach efforts, and regulatory agency and fishermen relations, has been key to our pioneering success in the ocean energy industry,” ORPC President and CEO Chris Sauer said in a press release announcing Ferland’s appointment.
Ferland was not available this morning for comment, but in an April 7, 2014 Mainebiz feature story on ORPC’s subsidiary business, he cited strong international interest in the company’s growing expertise in developing hydro-kinetic energy projects that use the tidal power of the ocean or the power of a flowing river. Inquiries from Chile, Japan and another unnamed foreign country, he said, highlighted the business opportunity for ORPC Solutions to provide consulting services for ocean energy projects seeking guidance on everything from supply chain management to the permitting and licensing process.
“The first thing they want from us is the road map,” he said. “Then, they want to know who are the key stakeholders, who in the communities we work with have had an interest in our projects? Finally, they ask about the opportunities for developing a local supply chain and the regulatory process. They want to know how you make all of those stakeholders truly part of the project, so there is trust.”
With ORPC since 2008, Ferland draws on over 30 years of experience in commercialization strategies for renewable energy companies, port emergency response operations, coastal resources management and public policy. He was CEO of the oil spill response company that led cleanup efforts for the largest spill ever to occur in Portland’s harbor in 1996. He has counseled numerous entrepreneurs and startups as president of the Maine Center for EnterpriseDevelopment (now called Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development) and was the founding president of Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine (E2Tech), now the leading industry association for clean technology companies in northern New England.
Founded in 2004, ORPC made history in 2012 with its Cobscook Bay project in Eastport, which was the first commercial hydrokinetic tidal energy project built in America, and the first ocean energy project to deliver electricity to a utility grid in the Americas. In 2014, ORPC installed and operated its first river power system in the remote Alaskan village of Igiugig, successfully delivering power to shore.
Those first-of-a-kind experiences allow ORPC Solutions to offer unique strategic expertise and support to other river and ocean energy projects online, the company said in its release.
Since 2007, ORPC has invested more than $25 million into the Maine economy and created or retained more than 100 jobs statewide with a supply chain that extends to 14 of Maine’s 16 counties. In Alaska, the company has invested over $2.6 million since 2009, and has over 50 partners and contractors.
ORPC is a privately held company developing river, tidal and deep-water ocean current power-generation systems and projects. Its hub at Eastport and Lubec has become an internationally recognized center for tidal and river energy development.
In February 2013, ORPC was named to Fast Company's list of top 10 innovative energy companies.
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