Province Welcomes First In-stream Tidal Device

The province welcomes news that the largest in-stream tidal device now in operation in North America has been successfully installed in the Bay of Fundy.

Today, Nov. 12, Nova Scotia Power and its technology partner OpenHydro installed their turbine in the Minas Passage area of the Bay of Fundy, about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro.

"Today is a great day in the history of Nova Scotia," said Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks. "Tidal energy offers Nova Scotians many opportunities -- new jobs, cleaner energy and the use of resources we have in our own backyard. That's the dream, and the tidal project team have dedicated themselves to help make it a reality."

"Thanks and congratulations to OpenHydro, Nova Scotia Power, Cherubini, and the many other partners and people involved in FORCE -- the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy -- including our own government staff."

"Today begins a very important period of testing that we believe will demonstrate that tidal energy can be part of Nova Scotia's renewable energy future," said Rob Bennett, president and CEO of Nova Scotia Power. "Working with OpenHydro, we are proud to be the first to deploy and test a commercial-scale tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy and look forward to the learnings ahead."

The province has contributed $9 million towards the tidal power project. This includes $2 million for independent research, and $7 million from ecoNova Scotia for Clean Air and Climate Change for shared development costs.

All tidal devices installed at the project site must adhere to strict environmental conditions and monitoring. The site, managed by FORCE, has approval to operate three different tidal devices.

The province has set a target of 25 per cent renewable electricity supply by 2015. Tidal energy has the potential to make a small contribution towards this target, with a potentially expanded role in future years. Research suggests a potential resource in the Minas Passage area of up to 300 megawatts -- enough to power about 100,000 homes.

This is OpenHydro's largest device in operation in the world, and together with the sub-sea base built by Cherubini Metal Works in Dartmouth, will be roughly six storeys high.