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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNOAA COOPS Letter of SupportUNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 November 10,2009 Mr. Walt Wrede City Manager, City of Homer 491 East Pioneer Avenue Homer, Alaska 99603 Dear Mr. Wrede: This letter is to confirm the support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) for the City's proposed project to the Alaska Energy Authority's (AEA) Renewable Energy Grant program to determine the tidal energy potential in Kachemak Bay, Alaska. CO-OPS will provide technical assistance, collect historical water current data, collect additional water current information, implement a hydrodynamic model and analyze the data for tidal energy in support of this project. CO-OPS will work closely with the NOAA Office of Coast Survey (OCS) Coast Survey Development Lab (CSDL) on the implementation of the modeling work. The primary deliverable that CO-OPS will provide will be a technical report, based on model and collected tidal data analysis, as to where the energy potential exists in Kachemak Bay. As outlined in the proposal, CO-OPS will provide approximately $650,000 of in-kind support for this proposal, which is a combination of data collection equipment ($150,000), supplies ($150,000), and staff time ($350,000). CO-OPS and CSDL support is contingent on additional funding of $300,000 as identified in the grant proposal. CO-OPS is the leading U.S. authority on tides and tidal currents and has, with its predecessors, been providing tidal predictions to promote safe and efficient navigation since 1807. The CO-OPS National Current Observation Program (NCOP) meets the Nation's needs for current observations, tidal current predictions, and other tidal current products. We are very interested in exploring new ways in which our expertise in tidal information can facilitate development of tidally-based renewable energy projects. Alaska provides one of the best sites in the Nation for such projects and, if funded, we anticipate that this project with the City of Homer and other Kachemak Bay communities will be a model for our participation in additional collaborations statewide. We look forward to working with you on this exciting project. Sincerely, .~.. Michael Szabados, Dir ctor Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services •• A '" :\(~l c;:.<f'~"'i"')"MENTOf!!'"