Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has awarded DP Energy a grant of C$29,750,000 (US$23 million) under the Emerging Renewable Power Program (ERPP) to support tidal energy development at the FORCE facility in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.
European-based renewable energy developer DP Energy is managing two berths in the Bay of Fundy through its Canadian registered company, Halagonia Tidal Energy Limited. It intends to develop both berths together at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) as a single project under the banner Uisce Tapa, which means fast running water in Gaelic.
The project will incorporate five Andritz Hydro Mk1 1.5-MW seabed-mounted tidal turbines and one SR2-2000 floating turbine by Scotrenewables Tidal Power Limited. At 9 MW, this will make it the largest tidal stream array to be deployed anywhere in the world, DP Energy says.
DP Energy says it anticipates deployment of this 9-MW pre-commercial array at FORCE will cost $117 million.
DP Energy has been working with both turbine suppliers for the past two years, during which time turbines from both manufacturers have been deployed in real sea environments in Scotland. In the case of Andritz, the three Mk1 turbines installed at the MeyGen Project have produced a cumulative output of more than 8.2 GWh since their deployment. The SR1-2000 prototype deployed by Scotrenewables at the EMEC facility in Orkney has produced more than 3 GWh since October 2017.
The ERPP aims to help Canada meet the commitments made under the Pan Canadian Framework on Climate Change, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing government and industry experience with new technologies and building supply chains to support emerging renewable energy sectors such as in-stream tidal.
DP Energy Chief Executive Officer Simon De Pietro, commenting on the award, said he is “thrilled that NRCAN has recognised the value and potential of the tidal sector as well as the merits of the project proposed. In 2008 DP Energy added Ocean Energy to its Wind and Solar Energy projects and has been actively involved in the marine energy sector, developing projects in the UK, Northern Ireland and Canada since then. Uisce Tapa represents an opportunity to realise a project of meaningful scale in one of the most energetic tidal sites in the world”.
DP Energy has developed 393 MW of wind energy systems. The company has a further 1,476 MW of projects, which are consented, in planning or in late stage development in Australia, Ireland and the UK as well as a number of large solar PV projects across Canada.
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