Principled leadership
Our team, investors, and partners are dedicated to the cause of making tidal power available for all.
Our history
Occurrent Power was initially founded in 2015 as BigMoon Power by seasoned technology executive Lynn Blodgett to harness the opportunity of tidal power generation in Nova Scotia. In early 2024, BigMoon was rebranded as Occurrent Power to align the Company's message and mission around development, ownership, and operation of ocean current power facilities.
Senior management
Jay McKenna, CEO
Prior to joining Occurrent Power (f.k.a. BigMoon Power), Jay was CEO and co-founder of Nacero Inc. a large format clean fuels company. Before launching Nacero in 2015, Jay was CFO of K Road Power, a utility-scale independent power producer focused on solar photovoltaic projects. Jay started his career in clean energy finance at Credit Suisse, spent time in the Global Commodities Principal Investment Group at Goldman Sachs, and was Director of Principal Investments for carbon finance firm C-Quest Capital. Jay received a B.A in Public Policy and International Studies from Duke University where he is on the Advisory Board of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business Center for the Environment, Development, and Global Environment.
Mike Festa, CFO
Mike has nearly 30 years of leadership, finance, and accounting expertise as both a public company CFO and the finance principal at multiple private technology and high growth companies. Prior to joining Occurrent Power, Mike was the global CFO of VXI Global and business transformation leader at Conduent. Before these high growth roles, Mike was the Corporate Officer and CFO for Xerox Services and the M&A Leader for Xerox Service where he led dozens of acquisitions and a multi $ billion annual budget. Mike received a B.A. in accounting from Seton Hall University.
Investors and key stakeholders
Orion Infrastructure Capital
OIC is a $4.0 billion investment fund focused on real assets and infrastructure in the energy and low carbon sectors.
Red Dock / RZR Capital
Red Dock and RZR Capital are family office investment managers with interest in funding next generation ideas.
FORCE / Bay of Fundy
The Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy is the key agency supporting the tidal power sector in Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Power
NSP is the utility off-taker for Occurrent Power's initial projects in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.
Frequently asked questions
Is Occurrent Power the new BigMoon Power?
In early 2024 BigMoon Inc and its subsidiaries rebranded under Occurrent Power to align the Company around the mission of building an independent power producer focused on ocean current and tidal renewable energy generation.
Isn't tidal ocean power very expensive? How will Occurrent be competitive?
Tidal power projects are capital intensive. However, unlike other types of tidal turbines sit on the ocean floor of below the surface, Occurrent's systems sit on the surface of the water. This means all electrical components are easily accessible for low cost installation and maintenance. As we scale, we believe our unique patented technology and approach will be as cost competitive as solar + battery, offshore wind, and geothermal power.
Why aren't there lots of tidal power plants today?
Historically tidal turbines have been extremely expensive, highly complex, and challenging to efficiently install. The raw power of subsea ocean currents creates immense operational hurdles that have resulted in many failed deployments. Occurrent's surface technology mitigates many of these issues resulting in a more streamlined and efficient project model.
What does the name "Occurrent Power" mean?
Occurrent Power's name is a compilation ocean and current which reflects the mission of the company to commercialize tidal power. The name also respects that tidal power is "occurrent" in nature, it simply just exists!
What is your impact on fish, sea life, and the ocean environment?
We produce tidal power by tapping into the water speed on the surface using an advanced water wheel design, not a tidal turbine which uses spinning blades. Our model has been approved by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Nova Scotia to be uniquely "low risk" to sea life. While we have sophisticated monitoring systems to observe our operations in the environment we will not have any meaningful impact on fish, sea mammals, lobster, or other sea life.
What are your competitive advantages? Do you have any patents?
Occurrent Power has multiple competitive advantages being one of the only renewable power developers in the world with a fully surface-based system. Our proprietary technology is supported by multiple patents in Canada, US, UK, and EU as well as deep execution methods and procedures uniquely designed for the deployment and operation of our systems. Our patent portfolio includes (#11835025, #11319920, #2020236379, #10458385, #10378504, and #2983451) which relate to a series of tidal power technologies and systems.