HARNESSING OCEAN’S POWER MAKES JUMP FROM FEASIBLE TO FUNCTIONAL.
ENGINEERS CONFIDENT THEY ARE POISED TO OVERCOME FAILURES OF THE PAST
They flank the bay that is home to the highest and strongest tides in the world, but for hundreds of years Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have struggled to channel the awesome might of the Bay of Fundy into tidal power.
Aspiring entrepreneurs have tried everything from mill wheels in the 1600s to turbines in the 2000s, only to have their hopes dashed and devices casually battered to smithereens by the water’s crushing force.
There has been limited success. In 1984, a form of hydroelectric dam — called a barrage — was built at Annapolis Royal, N. S. The 20- megawatt plant is one of only three tidal power plants in the world.
However, the next generation of projects is set to launch and onlookers say it’s time for the tide to turn.
“It’s happening in Europe and it’s happening here at the same time in the Bay of Fundy,” said Stephen Dempsey, executive director of the Offshore Energy Research Association, in an interview.
Dempsey says an international push to produce electricity without increasing carbon emissions has come as land- based wind energy projects are harder to develop, making tidal energy the new frontier in renewable energy.
He says engineers around the world are poised to learn from and overcome the obstacles revealed in 2009, after Open-Hydro and Nova Scotia Power deployed a one- megawatt turbine in Minas Passage to capture the powerful instream flow of the tides.
The speed and power of the water was so massive during that pilot project that the 12 two-metre blades were snapped off the 400- tonne turbine which resembled a giant aircraft engine until the tides took their toll.
Matt Lumley of the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy ( FORCE) describes the flow of water entering Minas Passage — where the FORCE site is located — like someone tightening their fingers on the end of a garden hose.
“The coastline pinches in to about five kilometres across and the water speeds up, and you’ve got about 14 billion tonnes of water moving over five metres a second,” he said.
In short, the currents would easily generate enough power for all of Atlantic Canada’s needs, but are too monstrously strong to be tamed — at least, fingers crossed, until now.
Cape Sharp Tidal, a partnership of Open-Hydro and Emera, is betting on two towering turbines that will be installed starting in June. The two-megawatt turbines are 16 metres in diameter and each weigh 1,000 tonnes.
Sarah Dawson, the project’s community relations manager, says they’re poised to capture the clean, renewable and regular source of energy as the tides come into the Bay of Fundy and back out twice a day.
She said the new turbines are a much more robust version of the 2009 design that was so badly battered.
“The strength of the tides there required a re-engineering, which is why this one is bigger and heavier and we’re confident it will withstand the tides,” she said.
Once in place, the turbines will be connected to Nova Scotia’s power grid, and are expected to provide enough electricity for about 1,000 homes.
Meanwhile, Black Rock Tidal Power Inc., is preparing to install its TRITON S40, which uses 40 smaller turbines, each about four metres in diameter and designed specifically to survive the forces in the Bay of Fundy.
DP Energy and Minas Energy also have rights to berths at the FORCE site and access to the underwater power cable.
While most of the development is happening on the Nova Scotia side of the bay, New Brunswick’s minister of economic development is hoping his province can benefit as well.