All FERN News

The Fundy Applied Sensor Technology platforms are part of a $6.8-million program to learn what goes on in Minas Passage as countless tonnes of water are funnelled through it with each tide.

The 650-kilogram, three-metre-long FAST 1 on display in Parrsboro on Monday will be placed in Minas Passage over the coming months to start gathering data on current strength, turbulence, marine life activity, noise levels and seabed stability.

The Striped Bass Association is asking provincial authorities to stop the planned placement of in-stream tidal turbines in the Minas Passage.

By spring, Chris Huskilson of Emera may know whether his vision of renewable energy generation for Nova Scotia will be realized within a few years.

Emera, Nova Scotia Power Inc.’s parent company, is in a joint venture with Irish company OpenHydro that plans to generate tidal energy for the Nova Scotia power grid beginning late this year. If Cape Sharp Tidal succeeds, tidal power could take off.

A memorandum of understanding, signed by representatives from both provinces Tuesday at the Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference in Halifax, says the provinces will share research and technology related to tidal energy.

Canadian and British researchers will join forces to collaborate on two projects in developing new sensing technologies for tidal energy applications.  The two projects, with a combined value of $1.43 million, were selected for funding through a joint research competition managed and funded by the Offshore Energy Research Association, a Nova Scotia Based not-for-profit research group, and Innovate UK, a government funded business and innovation accelerator out of the UK.