Canadian tidal power project secures support from Japanese companies

Two Japanese companies have entered into a joint development agreement with DP Energy, headquartered in Ireland, to work on the initial phase of a tidal power project in Canada.

In statements released earlier this week, Chubu Electric Power and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, or “K” Line, said the deal relates to the Uisce Tapa Tidal Energy project. The development is located at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy in the Bay of Fundy, an arm of the sea between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Chubu Electric Power and “K” Line described it as “the first tidal power project in which a Japanese company will participate abroad.”

According to DP Energy, the first phase of Uisce Tapa – Irish for “fast water” – centers around three 1.5 megawatt turbines. The second aims to increase the capacity of the project to 9 MW.

Uisce Tapa is backed by a 15-year power purchase agreement with Nova Scotia Power Incorporated, which amounts to C $ 530 (approximately 422) per megawatt hour. It also received a grant of approximately C $ 30 million from Natural Resources Canada.

In its announcement Wednesday, DP Energy described the Bay of Fundy as “home to some of the highest tides in the world.” At top speed on the surface, the tidal currents there are “capable of exceeding 10 knots” or 5 meters per second, he added.

The project is being studied for approval by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, according to Chubu Electric Power and the “K” line. If all goes as planned, the first turbine would enter service in 2023, followed by two more in 2026.

The news comes the same week that tidal power company Nova Innovation said it was able to move forward with a project focused on increasing tidal turbine production after receiving funding. from the Scottish government.

The £ 2million ($ 2.77million) funding increase announced on Thursday will be used to support the company’s volume manufacturing and tidal power logistics project, also known as by VOLT.

VOLT “will develop the first European assembly line to mass-produce tidal turbines,” according to Nova, and “will also test innovative techniques and tools to ship, deploy and monitor turbines around the world.”

Last week, another company, Orbital Marine Power, said its O2 turbine had started producing grid-connected electricity at the European Marine Energy Center in Orkney, an archipelago north of the Scottish mainland.

The 2 megawatt O2 has been dubbed “the most powerful tidal turbine in the world”, weighs 680 tonnes and is 74 meters long.