After long delays and strong opposition from fishermen, a giant generating turbine has been placed on the ocean floor in the Bay of Fundy.
Designed to harness the power of one of the world’s highest and strongest tides, the turbine was lowered into position this morning in the channel near Parrsboro, Nova Scotia during a four hour ebb tide.
Spokeswoman Sarah Dawson says Cape Sharp Tidal – a joint venture between Emera Inc. and OpenHydro, a DCNS company – is installing one turbine this year.
The two-megawatt turbine should be connected to the power grid in the coming days. It will be the first tidal generator in North America hooked up to an electrical grid. Once connected it is estimated the turbine can provide electricity for up to 1,000 homes. A second turbine is planned to be placed near the first, but no date has been set.
Local fishermen have been fighting the project saying more information is needed about potential effects on the marine ecosystem.
They said a baseline of knowledge was needed before the project proceeded so they can analyze the “after” effects to see what, if any, harm the turbines would do.
They also sought a stay in the placement of this test turbine pending a Supreme Court review of the Nova Scotia Department of Environment’s approval of the project.
A judge ruled against the fishermen’s request for a stay, saying they had failed to prove the project would cause irreparable harm and how placing the turbines now would prevent future testing.
This turbine prototype is to determine the viability of harnessing the massive tidal energy. Previous designs have been damaged by the powerful tides which attain about 18km/h. A number of other companies have also announced plans to place different types of technologies and prototypes in the area.
Additional information- sources
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.