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12MTRMay 2012Four thousand years ago, Nemed led his people in battle against a race of titans for control of Ireland, only to have their army destroyed by the power of the sea. Such myths are common in many cultures and speak of our respect, or even fear, of the ocean. Today, of course, we have learned to live with the sea using it for food, transportation and recreation, but we are also aware of its power when we see the destruction wrought by a tsunami. However, with the vast majority of the world?s population living near the coast and many of them lacking adequate supplies of elec-tricity, the power in the ocean waves and tides cannot be ignored. New technologies face many challenges, with survivabil- ity at the top of the list for ocean energy devices. For sur- vivability, a disciplined and staged design approach is needed. To advance technologies that could survive in outer space, Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) were defined, specifying various levels of performance and test- ing. For the ocean, the US Department of Energy has modified these levels to focus on test requirements and needed infrastructure. One glaring deficiency is the lack of open ocean test sites. With estimates that legal permit- ting represents up to 70% of the cost of an open ocean site; pre-permitted and monitored sites are critical to advancing this industry. The UK responded with the European Marine Energy Center, located in Orkney, The Return of NEMED region report... the violent, rude, and rushing torrent of the diluvian spring tide and the front breast of the exceedingly rough blue-crested wave came over them and not one of them escaped ? The Invasion of Nemed, Book of LeinsterBy John Miller, Executive Director, New England MREC Free Flow Power?s turbine being towed to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy?s partial scale test site aboard the barge donated by Verdant Power, New York, NY. MTR#4 (1-17):MTR Layouts 5/4/2012 3:22 PM Page 12