A US marine energy company has begun preparing to test a new modular tidal turbine in Massachusetts to validate the tech and bring it closer to commercial deployment. “Our goal is to make marine energy easier to build, deploy, and maintain in remote areas,” Lance McMullan, Sitkana founder and CEO, said. Modular turbine tests Conventional tidal energy systems use large, multi-megawatt underwater turbines that are fixed to the seabed to capture fast tidal currents. It is located near the US Army Corps of Engineers’ canal headquarters and it is the only commercial open-water facility in the US available to companies developing and testing tidal energy turbines The site was built for cheap, controlled testing of prototype tidal turbines in real ocean conditions. These were supported by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s (MassCEC) Ocean Innovation Network, and include enhanced data collection systems, expanded testing infrastructure, increased capabilities for prototype deployments, and preparations for future grid-connected tidal turbine testing.