Joint venture established for tidal energy project in Nova Scotia
by Cleantech Canada Staff
OpenHydro, Emera working together to build four-megawatt tidal energy project in Bay of Fundy in 2015
OpenHydro has been selected to build a four-megawatt tidal installation in the Bay of Fundy. PHOTO OpenHydro
HALIFAX—A new joint venture has been launched to build a four-megawatt tidal energy array in the Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia next year.
OpenHydro, a subsidiary of French naval defence firm DCNS S.A., will work with Emera Inc. on Cape Sharp Tidal, a fully grid-connected tidal array that will generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes in Nova Scotia.
“I’m delighted that OpenHydro is partnering with Emera on the creation of this exciting energy initiative,” OpenHydro chair and DCNS senior vice-president of energy and marine infrastructure Thierry Kalanquin said in a statement.
“Cape Sharp Tidal has the potential in 2015 to deliver one of the first multi-megawatt, multi-turbine tidal arrays in the world.”
The project will see a pair of OpenHydro’s 16-metre tall open-centre turbines installed in the Bay of Fundy, home to the highest tidal range in the world.
“We learned a lot from our inaugural tidal deployment in the Bay of Fundy back in 2009, and we’re looking forward to taking this next step,” Emera president and CEO Chris Huskilson said. “The incredible force of the Bay of Fundy gives us the potential to build a tidal industry here in Nova Scotia, and to take Nova Scotia experience and knowledge around the globe.”
OpenHydro said the turbines for the project will be built in Dartmouth, N.S., in partnership with Irving Shipbuilding Inc.
Based in Ireland, OpenHydro was chosen by the provincial energy ministry in March to build the tidal demonstration project at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) test site.
About $30 million has been contributed to the project from the federal government, as well as Encana Corp. and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) and FORCE.
The project will move forward in phases, OpenHydro said, with a goal of developing a 300-megawatt commercial tidal array in the Bay of Fundy.
