Canada’s tidal commitment step forward for the sector, industry agrees

The industry organizations working to advance the development of ocean energy on both sides of the Atlantic have welcomed the recent Canadian tidal project multi-million grant award, deeming it as ‘a great step in the right direction’ for tidal energy sector.

Illustration/Andritz Hydro tidal turbine (Photo: Andritz)

Reacting to the C$30 million grant, awarded to DP Energy’s Canadian business Halagonia Tidal Energy, to develop a 9MW tidal energy project that will combine both fixed and floating tidal turbine technology, the Chief Executive of Ocean Energy Europe, Rémi Gruet said:

“This landmark project is great news for the tidal sector, and will bring the technology one step closer to commercialization. The fact it only uses ‘made-in-Europe’ technology clearly demonstrates the EU’s technological advantage and confirms the technology’s export potential.”

The head of Brussels-based organization that represent the interests of Europe’s ocean energy sector also noted: “We hope this will encourage European Governments to realise the global potential and economic benefits of ocean energy and support increased EU deployment as well.”

Across the Atlantic, Canada’s national industry association for wave, tidal, and river current energy – Marine Renewables Canada – hailed the move as a step forward to developing the country’s ‘huge’ marine energy potential.

Paul McEachern, Executive Director of Marine Renewables Canada, said: “This support shows Canada really understands the enormous potential marine renewable energy has to contribute to our national electricity supply.

“Showcasing that predictable and reliable energy can be responsibly extracted from the Bay of Fundy is another step toward developing Canada’s huge marine energy potential.

“The continued and increasing effects of climate change require ambitious action, and Canada clearly gets that marine renewables can play a big role in building a cleaner energy future. Today’s announcement is a great step in the right direction.”

Government grant set to trigger next wave of tidal energy development in the Bay of Fundy

The grant to Halagonia Tidal Energy was awarded under the Emerging Renewable Power Program (ERPP) from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

According to the company’s Irish-based owner DP Energy, the government investment is set to trigger the next wave of tidal energy development at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) facility in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.

The Emerging Renewable Power Program (ERPP), administered by NRCAN, aims to help Canada meet the commitments made under the Pan Canadian Framework on Climate Change, by reducing GHG emissions and increasing government and industry experience with new technologies, and building supply chains to support emerging renewable energy sectors like in-stream tidal.

Commenting on the grant award, DP Energy’s Chief Executive, Simon De Pietro, said that he is ‘thrilled’ that NRCan recognized the value and potential of the tidal sector as well as the merits of the project proposed.

De Pietro added: “The Nova Scotia Department of Energy and FORCE have been driving the development of tidal energy in the province. The establishment of the FORCE facility and provision of an enabling Feed-In Tariff have contributed greatly to bringing us to this important milestone.”

The SR2000 turbine by Scotrenewables, which is being replaced with the the optimized SR2-2000 version in Orkney, Scotland (Photo: Scotrenewables Tidal Power)

 
DP Energy is managing two berths through Halagonia Tidal Energy at FORCE. The company intends to develop both berths together as a single project under the banner Uisce Tapa (pronounced Ish ka Ta Pa) which means fast running water in Gaelic.

The project plans to incorporate five Andritz Hydro Mk1 1.5MW sea-bed mounted tidal turbines, and a single SR2-2000 floating turbine by Scotrenewables Tidal Power.

At 9MW this will make it the largest tidal stream array to be deployed anywhere in the world, according to DP Energy.