Nova Scotia Power and its tidal-technology partner Openhydro have successfully deployed a commercial-scale in-stream tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy.
The 1MW commercial-scale turbine is operating at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) in the Minas Passage - rotating with the tides, collecting data and producing energy.
The turbine’s journey from Halifax to the deployment site, located approximately 3km off the shore of Black Rock, took seven days. Once on site, the 400-tonne device was lowered in less than six hours to its intended location on the ocean floor by a purpose-built barge called the Openhydro Installer.
The turbine now rests on the seabed, held in place by a subsea gravity base designed by Openhydro and fabricated by Cherubini Metal Works, a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia-based company.
The turbine will be tested for up to two years, during which time data will be collected and shared by Nova Scotia Power and Openhydro to determine the environmental performance and future feasibility of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy.
Nova Scotia Power’s involvement with the tidal-energy test facility is supported by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), an arm’s-length, not-for-profit corporation created by the government of Canada.
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