Turbine Timeline

Fundy Tidal could be generating electricity and jobs from the floor of the Digby Gut within the next three years.

Dana Morin, president of the Brier Island-based tidal energy company sketched out that timeline at a press conference today in Digby.

“Digby is not just a place to deploy boats up to Parrsboro,” said Morin. “This is the perfect place to produce energy right here. But it’s about more than generating electricity; this is about creating jobs, it’s about long-term sustainable development.”

The province called the press conference to announce approval of five power projects that meet the requirements to sell power at a special rate.

Four wind projects in Pictou, Lunenburg, Colchester and Halifax Counties and Fundy Tidal’s tidal project for Digby Gut all received the go ahead from the Nova Scotia Department of Energy today to take part in the community feed-in tariff (COMFIT) program.

The tidal project will now be able to count on selling its electricity for 65.2 cents per kWh, making it the first tidal project in the world to be supported by a community feed-in tariff.

“It’s a big day, the day the project becomes real,” said Christopher Sauer, president of Ocean Renewable Power Company, one of the companies interested in working with Fundy Tidal. “Having a market lets you go out and raise capital to do the project.”

Morin says the next step is in fact raising that capital; about $20 million. Fundy Tidal is a community economic development investment fund or CEDIF, which means in this case 51 per cent of the investment in the project must come from Nova Scotia.

“We expect to make an offering in the months ahead,” said Morin. “We have a real opportunity here, but if we don’t all chip in, we won’t be going anywhere.”

Greg Trowes, vice president of Fundy Tidal says there is also a lot of hands on work to do before any turbines are spinning in the Gut. He expects he will begin looking at site selection, mapping the ocean floor and measuring currents early in the new year, while Morin will begin discussions with current users.

Fundy Tidal is looking at a generating capacity of 2 MW; that’s one-tenth the capacity of the Annapolis Royal Generating Station.

Trowes says depending on the technology they choose, that could mean anywhere from four to ten turbines in the Gut.

Morin says this small local project will have a big impact locally.

He says Fundy Tidal will use local boats as much as possible and they are even considering having a boat purpose-built, potentially in Meteghan, to deploy and maintain turbines not only in the Gut but also at its other proposed sites in Petit and Grand Passages.

Those projects are still awaiting approval for COMFIT.

Morin says he was originally attracted to set up shop on Brier Island by the great energy potential in the Passage and by local interest in economic development.

“This all began around a kitchen table with someone asking ‘How do we bring the kids home? How do we keep them home?’

“I don’t think they need to leave anymore. I think you can go big and stay home.”

Story by Jonathon Riley

The Digby County Courier

December 18, 2011