Dexter Touts Fundy Tides in Washington

Premier’s power point
Dexter promotes Fundy’s renewable energy in Washington
By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter
Tue. Feb 23 - 4:53 AM


Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, centre, talks with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert as National Governors Association chairman James Douglas of Vermont looks on at left in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.(Cliff Owen / AP)





Promoting Bay of Fundy tidal power was at the top of Premier Darrell Dexter’s agenda in Washington last weekend.

Dexter and other Canadian premiers met with United States governors, senators, and two top federal officials — Lisa Jackson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — to talk about renewable energy and carbon emission regulations.

There is debate in the United States about whether some types of hydroelectric power, particularly associated with dams, should qualify as a renewable resource because of its effect on the environment.

Dexter said Monday he wanted to be sure Wellinghoff knew that the Nova Scotia project is different.

"In-stream tidal (is) of a wholly different nature, and that we were proceeding with a regulatory regime that was, of course, going to respect the proper environmental stewardship"" of the Bay of Fundy, Dexter said during a conference call from the Centre for Naval Analyses, a non-profit research organization in Washington.

Dexter was one of seven premiers at the first meeting of the Council of the Federation and the National Governors Association. The former is a group of Canadian premiers and the later American governors.

Scott Travers, president of Minas Basin Pulp and Power Co. Ltd., and John Woods, the company’s vice-president, joined Dexter in discussing the potential for tidal power.

Minas Basin is one of three proponents involved in a test project in the bay. The company, with technology partner Marine Current Turbines Ltd. of Bristol, England, plan to install a turbine in the bay in 2011, a year later than hoped.

Another prototype planned by Clean Current Power Systems Inc. of British Columbia and its partner, Alstom, is also scheduled to go in the water next year rather than this one.

Nova Scotia Power and its Irish partner, OpenHydro, put a turbine in the water last year, but it isn’t hooked up to the grid yet.

Potential energy exports are still years away, but Dexter said it’s not too early to lay some groundwork.

"We want to be a world leader in tidal technology," he said.

"In terms of utility planning and energy planning, this is not something that’s done on a year-to-year basis. These kinds of planning initiatives look out 10, and 15, and 20 years, and it would be dreadfully ill-advised, I think, to take the narrow view that you only look to the near-term."

Dexter said he also talked with Jackson about how the United States may regulate carbon emissions, and the potential impact on Nova Scotia manufacturers.

The premier said he also met with some business leaders, including officials with aerospace giant Lockheed Martin.

Last April, the company announced that it would add 100 more employees to its Halifax staff of 80 over five years. The province is supporting the expansion with a $1.8-million payroll rebate.

Dexter said the company continues to look for opportunities in Nova Scotia and has identified possibilities, but he couldn’t offer any specifics.

"We were there, really, to encourage their increase in their investment in the province and to ensure that they know that we’re appreciative of the jobs that they’ve already brought into the province," the premier said.

Lockheed Martin’s business in Halifax includes being the prime contractor for $1.4 billion in work upgrading the Canadian navy’s combat management and control systems on 12 Halifax-class frigates.

There is also a second contract that will run to 2024, worth $600 million, for in-service support of those systems.

( djackson@herald.ca)

‘We want to be a

world leader in tidal technology.’

PREMIER DARRELL DEXTER