One of the five-storey high turbines was scheduled to leave Pictou this weekend to be taken by barge around the province to a test location in the Minas Basin near Parrsboro.
However, Nova Scotia Environment Minister Margaret Miller says the province has yet to approve a proposed environmental effects monitoring program.
“They're awaiting for us to look over that. We're working with our partners at DFO, and when we have all the information we'll be able to make a judgment call on that environmental approval,” Miller said in an interview.
Cape Sharp Tidal has put the brakes on the deployment of its first turbine in the Bay of Fundy, originally set for this weekend so it can meet with concerned community members.
Sarah Dawson, community relations manager with Cape Sharp Tidal told the Chronicle Herald Thursday that despite extensive outreach activities, there are still stakeholders in the region that feel like they have not been fully heard.
“We are taking a pause to. . .hear from those who don’t feel like they have an opportunity. It’s important that we listen and we learn and we always learn from these sorts of engagements,” Dawson said in an interview.
Nova Scotia renewable energy company Black Rock Tidal Power Inc. (BRTP) has awarded the contract to fabricate its TRITON S40 tidal power platform to Aecon Atlantic Industrial Inc., a subsidiary of Aecon Group Inc.
This will be the first full-scale fabrication of this technology in the world, says a BRTP media statement issued May 18.
The instream tidal device will be installed in the Bay of Fundy in 2017.
An association supporting government and the tidal energy industry released a report on Monday stating that remaining questions about the environmental impact of turbines can be answered by the deployment of the devices, but DFO scientists and a biology professor from Acadia say too many gaps in pre-deployment research still remain.
The report, released by the Offshore Energy Research Association (OERA) and authored by Dr. Graham Daborn of Fundy Environmental & Educational Consultants, states that since 2007, 50 studies on the bay’s marine biology and ecosystem have been conducted with more expected post deployment.
“The story continues, however, now that turbines are to be deployed in Nova Scotia waters for prolonged testing periods, because some of the remaining environmental questions can now be addressed,” said Dr. Daborn, a marine biologist and past director of the Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research at Acadia University.
The Upper Bay of Fundy is an important spawning, nursery and feeding ground for many fish, mammals, and invertebrate species. They include species-at-risk, such as white shark, striped bass, sturgeon and inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon, among others.
