Canada: Tidal Energy Firm Says Enters Bankruptcy as Regulatory Hurdles Derail Planned Project
out its technology and delivered power to Nova Scotia’s grid, said Monday it had not been able to secure the authorizations it had required or agree a viable path forward with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) that would enable it to deliver its flagship demonstration project at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) tidal energy demonstration site in the Minas Passage. "Because of this, Sustainable Marine is not able to meet its obligations to its project financing partners," Sustainable Marine Energy (Canada) Ltd.Last year, Sustainable Marine said it had become "he
Renewable Energy: First Floating Tidal Power Delivered to Nova Scotia Grid
Sustainable Marine said it has successfully harnessed the tidal currents in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, delivering the first floating in-stream tidal power to Nova Scotia’s grid.Nova Scotia has allocated circa 30MW of capacity via demonstration permits and berths at FORCE (Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy) for developers to demonstrate their energy generation prowess. “Achieving ‘first power’ to the grid from our new platform in Grand Passage signals a real inflection point for our business,” said Jason Hayman, CEO, Sustainable Marine. “It crystalizes
Schottel Merges Tidal Units to Sustainable Marine Energy
developed by Schottel, in-conjunction with its platform and anchoring solutions, to offer an integrated solution to the market. SME will also be continuing the development of projects in Nova Scotia, Canada that will be used to prove up its products, including the 5MW berth at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) that was awarded to Schottel in 2014.SME’s management and engineering teams are based in Edinburgh. The Schottel Hydro team responsible for the design and delivery of the instream turbines will continue to be based in Spay, Germany; co-located with Schottel GmbH, who
NRCAN Grant Triggers Major Investment in the Bay of Fundy
scale in one of the most energetic tidal sites in the world”. Mr. De Pietro was also keen to acknowledge the backing which the industry has received from the Province of Nova Scotia to date in addition to its ongoing support. “The Nova Scotia Department of Energy and FORCE (Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy) have been driving the development of tidal energy in the province. The establishment of the FORCE facility and provision of an enabling Feed-In Tariff have contributed greatly to bringing us to this important milestone’. Mr. De Pietro concluded that he is excited with the prospect
New Monitoring Platform Launched in Minas Passage
A new underwater monitoring platform has been deployed in the world’s highest tides, designed to capture environmental data from the Bay of Fundy. “FAST-3,” the third sensor platform built and deployed by the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE), was successfully lowered to the sea floor in the Minas Passage on Friday, February 2. “FORCE was created to explore whether in-stream tidal energy can be a safe, viable alternative to fossil fuel use, and help protect our ecosystem from the long term impacts of climate change,” said FORCE general
FORCE Uses ASL's Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler
The Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) purchased one of ASL's single frequency 125 kHz Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profilers (AZFP) autonomous scientific echosounder for deployment on their instrumented mooring platform in Minas Passage in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. FORCE is a Canadian center for in-stream tidal energy technology demonstration, located in the Bay of Fundy. The tidal flow through the Minas Passage boasts 14 billion metric tons of water, moving at speeds in excess of five meters per second. Understanding this powerful environment is critical to successful turbine
New Site Data Collected for Fundy Tidal Project
Efforts to understand the unique environmental conditions in the Minas Passage of the Bay of Fundy are moving forward. After a 27-day sea trial, a team comprised of staff at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) working in concert with crew on the Dominion Victory have successfully recovered an underwater monitoring platform, known as FAST-1. “To explore the energy potential in the Bay of Fundy responsibly, we have to understand it,” said FORCE general manager Tony Wright. “We’re building a series of subsea instrument platforms that will give us a
Partnership Seeks New Tidal Sensor Technologies
data from each sensor to be integrated into a fish and marine mammal data set. The system will improve the ‘real-time’ detection and tracking of fish and marine mammals at tidal sites in the Bay of Fundy. Specifically, testing will be done at the Cape Sharp Tidal berth at the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) site. “Environmental stewardship and research are an important component of building a vibrant tidal sector in Nova Scotia,” said Chris Huskilson, President and CEO of Emera Inc. “We look forward to collaborating with our partners to gain a deeper
FORCE Prepares for Turbines, Expands Team
With 10 kilometers of power cables installed in the Bay of Fundy, a new environmental monitoring program in development, and turbines set for deployment in the near future, the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE) announced new board and staff support. FORCE welcomes Joe Fitzharris as the chair of the board of directors. Fitzharris is Quality Manager at AMEC Black and McDonald, and has previously held senior management positions at Marener Group of Companies and Irving Shipbuilding. Joe has previously served as an independent director at FORCE, and chair of the Maritimes Energy
February 2025
