Sustainable Marine to deliver floating tidal project in Canada

Construction of the new 420 kW PLAT-I 6.40 floating tidal energy platform was recently completed at A.F. Theriault & Son Ltd. in Meteghan, Nova Scotia, and launched on 1 February 2021 in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, which experiences some of the highest tides on earth.

It will undergo commissioning and testing in Grand Passage, Novia Scotia, and will then be moved to the FORCE (Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy) site as part of the first phase of the Pempa’q In-stream Tidal Energy Project (Pempa’q Project). The project takes its name from the Mi’kmaq First Nation word ‘Pempa’q’ meaning ‘rise of the tide’, in honour of the Bay of Fundy’s Indigenous communities.

The project will deliver up to 9 MW of electricity to the Nova Scotia grid. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 000 tpy of CO₂ and power approximately 3000 homes in Nova Scotia.

The Pempa’q Project is being supported by the Government of Canada with CAN$28.5 million in funding – one of Canada’s largest-ever investments in tidal energy.

The PLAT-I 6.40 builds on the lessons learned and experience gained from Sustainable Marine’s previous successful deployments in Scotland and Nova Scotia. It was designed specifically for the FORCE site, and produces 50% more power than its predecessor, the PLAT-I 4.63, which has undergone rigorous testing since 2017, firstly in Scotland before relocation to Grand Passage in 2018. During testing, the system has successfully produced power and has demonstrated it can operate in adverse weather conditions. It is also measuring crucial environmental effects and has not recorded any evidence of adverse impacts on fish or marine animals.

The innovative tidal platform only requires 2 m of water for launching and towing and is moored with a turret configuration, allowing it to align with the tide or the river flow. It has been designed so that it is easy to install and is accessible for maintenance and servicing, addressing one of the key challenges experienced by earlier tidal energy developers.

This new technology was originally developed in Scotland with support from Scottish Enterprise’s WATERS funding, before arriving in Nova Scotia.

For more news and technical articles from the global renewable industry read our latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global’s Winter 2020 issue

The Winter issue of Energy Global provides a range of technical articles covering technological advancements and future outlooks in the renewables sector, from companies including CorPower Ocean, Rystad Energy, Black & Veatch, Voltalia, FUERGY, and more.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/other-renewables/03022021/sustainable-marine-to-deliver-floating-tidal-project-in-canada/