As part of The Times’ coverage of last year’s global climate summit, I wrote an article about a project in Nova Scotia designed to generate renewable electricity from special tides. of the Bay of Fundy. Now, a regulatory hurdle means that the pilot project could soon be shut down.
The unusual tides of the Bay of Fundy have long been considered an abundant source of electrical energy. At Minas Passage – the narrowest part of the bay – the water level rises or falls by about 17 meters, roughly the height of a four-story building and capable of generating enormous amounts of electricity.
[Read: Who Will Win the Race to Generate Electricity From Ocean Tides?]
Most power generation plans in the Bay of Fundy have been disasters or disappointments, in part because they have placed turbines on the seafloor, where underwater debris, such as sunken logs, has destroyed them. Sustainable Marine, a German-owned company focused on tidal energy, has taken a new approach. Instead of placing the turbines on the seabed, the Sustainable Marine places them on a barge that looks a bit like a submarine with two large props on either side.
Once the barge is in the water, a remote operator will submerge the turbines or lift them up when whales and other marine mammals are spotted nearby or during major storms. The platform is covered with sensors and cameras to track fish and other marine life.
When I visited PLAT-I 6.40 power generation platform, the barge’s official name, it was undergoing initial tests at the Bay of Fundy’s Grand Passage, where the tides are less severe. Its success there means it is expected to be towed to the stronger currents of the Minas Passage for further testing and data collection on its effects on fish and marine life. Once there, it will be connected to the grid via one of five inland cables.
But the project was derailed before it could be moved. Sustainability Marine announced this week that because the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, commonly known as the DFO, would not be granting them permits to set up turbines in Minas Passage, they have frozen the platform and suspended operations in Nova Scotia.
“We always hoped that we could agree to some sort of due process with the DFO, but we couldn’t,” Jason Hayman, the company’s chief executive officer, told me. “We are extremely disappointed, to put it politely, about this situation. There is no logical explanation for it.”
Mr. Hayman said the reason for the refusal was not made clear throughout the process, which he found unclear. Mr. Hayman said that the company’s investors are unlikely to wait any longer for permits, making a full shutdown likely. The end of the project will put about 20 people in Canada out of work by the time the company plans to expand here.
Tim Houston, prime minister of Nova Scotia, also expressed his disappointment.
“This is a blow to the tidal industry in our area,” he said in an email. “Jurisdictions around the world would love to have something like Nova Scotia has in their backyards. I am deeply disappointed in our federal government and its indifferent attitude towards our opportunity to green the grid.”
The fisheries department said in a statement that privacy rules prevented it from discussing any specifics of Sustainability Marine’s application for permission.
“This is an area with fast, narrow high tide that is difficult to observe,” the ministry wrote. “Sufficient monitoring plans are needed to assess any potential impacts on fish and fish habitat.”
When asked why it had previously granted permission to install two undersea power generation turbines at the same test site, the ministry said those decisions “depend on the location of the equipment in the water column” and no detailed explanation.
During the Great Passage tests, Mr. Hayman said, all data is regularly sent to the fisheries department as well as academic researchers. He acknowledges that there can sometimes be visibility issues at Minas Passage as eddy currents can overwhelm the fish sensors and fish-monitoring cameras. But he added that part of the test’s purpose is to refine and improve marine life monitoring systems.
According to Mr. Hayman, there have never been any documented incidents of fish or marine mammals being harmed by the company’s systems in Canada or Europe. Sustain Marine’s research to date shows that the flow of water around the turbines directs fish away from the underwater propellers, says Hayman.
The company is making a last-ditch effort, through local members of Congress, to reach an agreement with the DFO for the project. The project has cost about 60 million Canadian dollars so far, Mr. Hayman said, with about half of that coming from governments.
“It’s purely economic vandalism, in fact some pretty low-level fish and fish habitat protection programs can shut down something like this,” Mr Hayman said. “There is a glimmer of hope for us that hopefully someone in a jurisdiction who can do this will want to choose this. Honestly, they will get a bargain. Because they’re going to get something like 85% of the way it’s largely funded by other governments.”
Trans-Canada
-
When Brian Maracle, the Mohawk, gave up journalism and city life to return to the Six Nations of the Grand River, he quickly became frustrated with the courses available to teach Kanyen’keha, the language Mohawk. Decades later, he was significant and successful change how native languages are taught.
-
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. by Toronto Blue Jays thrives when he’s up against the New York YankeesTyler Kepner reported.
-
The BBC’s chairman has resigned over his role in facilitating a $1 million loan to Boris Johnson while the politician was prime minister. The money comes from Sam Blyth, a Canadian businessman and distant cousin of Mr. Johnson, who founded a chain of private schools named after him among others.
-
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, musical director of the Metropolitan Opera and director of the Orchester Métropolitain in Montreal, is challenging conservative norms with custom outfits tailored to each opera, reported Javier C. Hernández.
-
From Opinion: As Canada moves to expand medically assisted suicide for people with severe mental illness, the “First Person” podcast talks with Dr. Sisco van Veen, a psychiatrist in the Netherlands. , where mental health assistance in death has been legal Since 2002.
-
The ghostly light of I was born in the North has been seen in parts of Canada, North America and Europe, where it usually does not flicker.
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has covered Canada for The New York Times for the past 16 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.
How are we?
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this newsletter and events in Canada in general. Please send them to nytcanada@nytimes.com.
Liked this email?
Forward it to your friends and let them know they can sign up This.
