In late 2007 OBOE Management began communication with a research program that had been undertaken by the Center for Ocean Energy Technology at Florida Atlantic University. After a visit to the Center and meetings with the Executive Director and Principal Scientist, OBOE was accepted as a Charter Industry Affiliate and became a Sustaining Partner providing support of $25,000 per year in furtherance of this important research. Similarly, the State of Florida provided a grant of $5 million to the Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy is currently reviewing a grant proposal for infusion of $6.25 million in funding over the next 5 years. The objective of the study is an environmentally safe method of deploying multiple submerged marine turbines in the Gulf Stream to supply a major source of electrical energy to the on-land power grid. The performance characteristics of the Gulf Stream off the North Carolina coast are very similar to those exhibited in the Florida Straits, which suggests another reliable source of energy for NC.

Other subsurface ocean energy generators currently in operation or under development are those of Marine Current Turbines, Ltd. at Strangford Lounge, Ireland, Verdant Power, Inc. in the East River, New York and St. Lawrence River at Cornwall Ontario, Canada.

Illustration by permission of Marine Current Turbines, Ltd., Bristol, England

Illustration of proposed Gulf Stream Submerged Turbine Farm Complex offshore Florida by permission of Florida Atlantic University