Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy tidal power plans expand at FORCE with new environmental monitoring

Could the world's strongest tides turn Nova Scotia into an energy powerhouse?

The Bay of Fundy, long known for the world’s highest tides, could some day generate enough energy to power a city the size of Montreal. Twice each day, 14 billion tonnes of water moving at speeds over five metres a second is funnelled through the Minas Passage, a narrow channel in the eastern part of the Bay of Fundy, creating some of the strongest tidal currents on the planet. Industry estimates suggest the passage could eventually generate up to 2,500 megawatts of renewable energy, a resource too large for governments, utilities and energy developers to ignore as Canada works toward a lower-carbon future. At the centre of that opportunity is the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE), a not-for-profit research and testing facility for tidal stream energy located near Parrsboro, some 120 kilometres from Halifax. RelatedCan tidal power turbines and fish co-exist? New Nova Scotia project to find outAnother tidal energy developer goes bust before making electrons from the Minas Passage Established in 2009, FORCE provides the specialized infrastructure needed to connect tidal energy devices to Nova Scotia’s power grid, while serving as North America’s leading test site for tidal stream energy technologies. FORCE executive director Lindsay Bennett told The Chronicle Herald in 2024 that “tidal projects are particularly complex. It’s tough to meet the engineering, financing and regulatory demands to get a project in the water. Not every company is going to succeed here; the bar is high.” While it has its challenges, interest in the sector remains strong. Unlike wind and solar power, tidal energy is entirely predictable, offering a potential advantage as power grids seek reliable sources of renewable electricity. The Financial Post recently caught up with Bennett, who discussed the opportunities and obstacles that face tidal energy development in Nova Scotia. FP: Why is FORCE — and the potential of tidal energy — important to Nova Scotia? Bennett: Tidal energy has really been part of our region’s identity for millions of years. Mi’kmaq stories teach that Kluskap created the tides by stirring the waters with his great paddle, a reminder that tidal forces are not just natural phenomena but part of a living cultural landscape. And Acadian settlers later built tidal mills powered by wooden gates and gravity. The Bay of Fundy has enormous potential to help us respond to the impacts of climate change. Canada’s goal of getting to net-zero emissions by 2050 will require a range of solutions, not just tidal but other new clean energy solutions. But tidal energy is unique – it delivers guaranteed power four times a day and represents a lasting opportunity for energy security and local economic growth. In terms of economic impact, according to recent Atlantic Economic Panel research, tidal power stands out as one of Atlantic Canada’s most supported economic opportunities. In their research, 67 per cent of Atlantic Canadians support developing the sector, while only seven per cent are opposed. We have access to a natural energy advantage that few places anywhere can match. FP: How challenging is it to commercialize tidal power? Bennett: There is a lot of complexity to meet the engineering, financing and regulatory demands to get a project in the water. And as the industry began, some projects were going to fail. But generally, around the world, tidal energy is starting to move from demonstration to deployment, from single devices to multiple. We now have far more knowledge than we did a decade ago. In the Bay of Fundy, we’ve gained experience with deployment, operations, environmental monitoring and regulation, and we have a much clearer understanding of the conditions needed for projects to succeed. Internationally, there is also a growing record of device performance and reliability based on years of operating experience. Orbital Marine Power Inc.’s O2 turbine has logged thousands of operational hours at EMEC (the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland) since 2021, delivered consistent grid power and set the stage to move to larger scale. The technology works. Not every solution is equal, but the technology can deliver power continuously over long periods. We’re also looking closer at what it offers: guaranteed output windows. We can plan an electricity system around it. Every grid with a growing share of renewables faces the same challenge – variability. Wind and solar generation can fluctuate from hour to hour, depending on weather and daylight. Tidal currents, on the other hand, are steady and predictable, delivering energy four times a day, not tied to wind and sunlight. Because tidal power produces when other renewables may not, it helps smooth overall supply and supports a more stable and resilient grid. Even a modest share of tidal energy in a regional mix, on the order of 10 per cent – or about 300 megawatts in Nova Scotia’s case – can play a meaningful role in reducing balancing and storage costs in system models. No other renewable offers that level of predictability. FP: How optimistic are you about a commercial tidal energy industry in Nova Scotia? Bennett: We are feeling positive about the direction of the sector. It’s great to see a Canadian company (Eauclaire Tidal Ltd.) and one of the world’s leading tidal technologies ((Orbital Marine Power) making a long-term commitment to Nova Scotia. (The companies have a partnership, occupy a berth at FORCE, and are adding two more berths) The industry today is operating with far more knowledge, experience and regulatory clarity than it had a decade ago. In the Bay of Fundy, we’ve learned a tremendous amount about deployment, marine operations, environmental monitoring and the conditions needed to support successful projects. None of that guarantees success for any individual project, but it does mean the sector is building from a much stronger foundation than it was even just a few years ago. FP: Could the province become a leader in marine renewable energy? Bennett: Yes. We’re already a leading centre for marine renewables. But I think Canada has what it takes to move to the front. The Bay of Fundy (has) power potential equal to the province’s entire electricity demand, four times a day. As we move towards multiple devices, there are many partners that will play an important role. Ongoing research and monitoring to demonstrate that effects are acceptable, not absent, but understood and managed. Indigenous participation, the Mi’kmaq have an inherent, treaty and legal right to the governance of the Bay of Fundy. Economies of scale are needed to reduce cost and risk. Close collaboration among regulators, rights holders, scientists and developers guided by an adaptive management approach. Continued commitment and clear market signals from both provincial and federal governments. And there’s infrastructure. At FORCE, we’re ready. We can host 30 megawatts, roughly twice the size of Eauclaire and Orbital’s current project scope. Filling all 30 megawatts won’t happen overnight. But the pieces are increasingly in place: the resource, the grid connection, the technology, the research, the partners and the voices around the table. The question is no longer whether Nova Scotia has the ingredients to lead in tidal energy. The opportunity now is to put those ingredients together in a way that works for communities, rights holders, developers and the environment.

2 hours ago

Can tidal power turbines and fish co-exist? New Nova Scotia project to find out

Tidal power is an emerging sector globally and the immense tidal resource of a narrow channel in Nova Scotia could eventually deliver an estimated 2,500 megawatts of renewable energy to Canada’s power grid. But first, a group of researchers want to know if underwater turbines can generate clean energy without harming the Bay of Fundy’s marine ecosystem. The Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) is retrofitting a former tidal power platform into a research station designed to monitor fish and marine life in the Bay of Fundy’s Minas Passage. That channel is one of the most powerful tidal energy sites on the planet, with 14 billion tonnes of water moving at speeds over five metres a second “For tidal energy to grow responsibly, we need good data about how tidal turbines interact with the marine environment,” Lindsay Bennett, FORCE’s executive director, said in an email. “Regulators need it, investors need it, the sector needs it to earn the respect and trust of communities who live, work and depend on the Bay of Fundy. “It’s very much a shared opportunity, giving researchers, partners, regulators and technology suppliers a common space to test tools, compare results and help build consensus around effective environmental assessment methods.” FORCE is the research and test centre for tidal stream energy, providing offshore and onshore electrical equipment to connect devices to the power grid. It’s located about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro. The 32-metre-long former Sustainable Marine Energy floating tidal platform, known as PLAT-I 6.40, will become a key component of FORCE’s Ocean Sensor Innovation Platforms (OSIP) project, a multi-year initiative aimed at improving environmental monitoring around tidal energy devices. “The PLAT-I was the first floating device in Canada to deliver electricity to the grid,” Bennett recalled. “That project failed to secure a regulatory approval to come to FORCE. That prompted a federal task force to ask how Canada could provide a clearer regulatory pathway for tidal energy projects while maintaining strong environmental protections. “One of the task force’s resulting actions was to advance research in support of a new staged permitting process. The Bay of Fundy is a staggering renewable energy resource, but it’s also a complex ecosystem and a sacred Mi’kmaw watershed. To harness it responsibly, we’ve got to ground our efforts in both rigorous science and respectful collaboration. And that’s how the OSIP project came to be.” The OSIP project — a collaborative effort with Acadia University, the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, Ocean Tracking Network, the U.S.-based Pacific Northwest National Lab and other industry and government partners — is intended to gather critical data about fish movement and behaviour in one of the world’s most active marine environments. The Bay of Fundy’s powerful currents have long attracted interest from renewable energy developers hoping to harness the tides to generate electricity. But concerns about the potential effects of turbines on fish and marine life have remained one of the industry’s biggest regulatory hurdles. The OSIP project, which received $8.2 million in funding from Natural Resources Canada in September, is designed to address those concerns directly. The floating and seafloor platforms, specifically designed for the Bay of Fundy’s high flows, will deploy submersible sensor systems, underwater optical cameras, imaging sonars and acoustic receivers that track fish movement. Additional instruments will collect data on water speed, turbulence, temperature, and other environmental conditions. The refitted platform, which at one point had six marine turbines used to generate electricity from tidal flows, is expected to be launched sometime this summer. The information gathered will help researchers determine which monitoring approaches are most effective for studying fish-turbine interactions in the challenging conditions of the Minas Passage. FORCE said data from the sensors will be collected and analyzed over the next three years. “It will address one of our sector’s key questions: how fish interact with tidal turbines in high flow conditions,” Bennett said. “So far, the international research is encouraging — the few observed fish interactions have not resulted in obvious harm, and marine mammals appear to have adapted without harm to turbine installation. “But we have to build evidence for the Minas Passage, to support Canadian regulatory confidence that the sector can move forward responsibly and, ultimately, grow a local industry, improve our energy security, and build an additional solution to the growing challenge of climate change.” Bennett said the reason the Bay of Fundy is such a compelling renewable energy resource is the same reason it’s an extremely challenging place to collect data. “OSIP is allowing us to do more than we’ve been able to before — a stable, floating, purpose-built structure to test sensors, improve monitoring methods and support the kind of evidence we need to move responsibly to larger arrays of devices.” For Bennett, the connection between ocean conservation and renewable energy development is a natural one and a sentiment that aligns with Ocean Week Canada and World Ocean Day on June 8. World Ocean Day was first proposed during the 1992 Earth Summit and gained early momentum through activities at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax before being officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008. “World Ocean Day is a reminder that the ocean is not separate from our lives, especially in Nova Scotia,” she said. “The Bay of Fundy shapes our economy, our climate, our communities, our culture, and our sense of place. People fish here, work here, live along these shores and depend on the health of our coastal waters. And the energy within its tides has enormous potential to help us respond to the impacts of climate change, including to the ocean itself (like) acidification, sea level rise and coastal erosion.”

1 week ago