turbines in the Fundy

Fundy turbine passes early tests
Underwater generator creates power, keeps its moorings
By JUDY MYRDEN Business Reporter
Fri. Dec 4 - 4:46 AM
The Chronicle Herald


Nick Murphy, project manager for Open Hydro, speaks Thursday at the Westin Hotel in Halifax. (Christian Laforce / Staff)





The first commercial scale tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy is producing electricity and is staying secure to the seabed floor.

"It’s operating the way it ought to be," Nick Murphy, OpenHydro’s commercial manager, said in Halifax on Thursday.

His comment was the first update on the 400-tonne device since it was launched Nov. 12 in the Minas Basin by Nova Scotia Power and its Irish partner OpenHydro of Dublin, Ireland.

The data collected from the one-megawatt turbine is showing it is operational, rotating with the tides and producing energy, said Mr. Murphy. He made the statement after addressing about 150 members of the Offshore/Onshore Technologies Association of Nova Scotia.

The association represents more than 300 suppliers for the energy industry. It hopes there will be opportunities in the tidal business.

The open-centre designed turbine is sitting in 20 metres of water but is not yet connected to an underwater cable. Data is being transmitted using an acoustic modem system, he said.

"It was designed to withstand the currents and that’s the nice thing about tidal energy, the forces are very predictable, you know how fast the tide is going to be on any given day of the year," said Mr. Murphy.

If the testing continues to go well, the utility envisions putting 200 to 300 units in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia Power executive Rick Janega said. That many units could generate 15 per cent of the province’s electrical needs.

"This would also be a great opportunity for fabrication," Mr. Janega told the crowd of energy industry suppliers.

Mr. Murphy said the scenario is a "definite possibility" with limited environmental impact.

He said the "sensible" next step would be to install five or six units, and then scale up to maybe 20 or 50.

Next week OpenHydro and the power company will begin assessing the environmental impact the test turbine has on the fisheries and current flow rates, said Mr. Murphy.

The tidal turbine, its tripod-shaped base, the barge that carried it and the deployment method were all designed by Open Hydro, a renewable energy company.

The base was fabricated by Cherubini Metal Works, a Dartmouth based company, for $1.7 million.

The initial turbine cost $10 million, with Nova Scotia Power investing the lion’s share and $4.6 million coming from Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a non-profit green energy foundation with offices in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Two more turbines will be lowered to the bottom of the channel next spring along with the underwater power cable to carry the electricity.

The other developers are Clean Current Power Systems Inc. of British Columbia and Minas Basin Pulp and Power Co. Ltd. of Hantsport.

Minas Basin Pulp and Power is also building a $12-million demonstration facility, including underwater transmission lines that will take turbine-generated power to a building containing electrical equipment synchronized with the Nova Scotia power grid.

The building will also house a research laboratory that will help private companies and the province determine whether the turbine project is environmentally and commercially feasible in the Bay of Fundy.

After the three turbines are in place, they will generate three to five megawatts of electricity, enough to annually supply power to 15 to 25 buildings, each the size of a supermarket.

( jmyrden@herald.ca)