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.
The Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) unveiled two advanced underwater monitoring platforms, now in their final stages of testing in Dartmouth before sea trials in the Bay of Fundy.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will provide a $65,000 investment to create a new geographic information system (GIS) mapping platform, which will help gather physical, environmental and infrastructure data from tidal sites along the Bay of Fundy and make the information accessible online.
A third Nova Scotian company has secured a multi-million dollar contract with the Cape Sharp Tidal project, which has potential to be the first grid-connected tidal array in the world. Hawboldt Industries of Chester, Nova Scotia has been awarded a $4.7-million contract for the design and manufacturing of three heavy lift winches to be used on the OpenHydro deployment and recovery barge. Cape Sharp Tidal is a partnership between OpenHydro – a DCNS company – and Emera Inc. to develop a tidal industry in Nova Scotia.
