Eauclaire Tidal and Orbital Marine Power have secured a further 12500 KW of marine energy licences from the Province of Nova Scotia to advance tidal stream energy deployment at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) in the Bay of Fundy.
The partners were selected as the sole awardees under the province’s 2025 tidal energy procurement process and have been granted two 15-year power purchase contracts, together with associated seabed and electrical connection rights at the FORCE site.
The award expands their contracted pipeline and will support the installation of six Orbital O2-X tidal turbines across the Minas Passage. Each turbine will generate around 180GWh of predictable, clean energy over the course of the 15-year contract period.
The development represents Orbital’s largest project outside the UK and a major step toward harnessing the Bay of Fundy’s powerful tidal resource to deliver reliable, emissions-free power for Nova Scotia.
Eauclaire and Orbital have been working together on tidal stream energy projects in Nova Scotia since 2023. Orbital, through its continued investment in Eauclaire, will co-own and operate the projects and act as EPC contractor for the delivery of its O2-X technology.
Eauclaire president Jane Lowrie said: “Our partnership will deliver reliable, emissions-free electricity to the Nova Scotia power grid from the Bay of Fundy, which is known to be one of the best tidal energy resources in the world.
“We look forward to working with our First Nation partners and local communities to build a strong tidal power industrial base that will create specialised, permanent employment opportunities right here in Nova Scotia.”
Vice-president Jennifer Lewis said: “Our plan is to deploy these tidal generation units to help Nova Scotia achieve its emission reduction targets, including decreasing reliance on coal-fired generation, while creating sustainable employment opportunities for Nova Scotia residents.”
Orbital chief executive Andrew Scott said: “This tremendous news provides the critical first steps in an exciting, scalable vision for Orbital to work with our partners, investors, supply chain and public sector stakeholders across Nova Scotia and Canada to capture the huge sustainable benefits that can flow from harnessing the clean energy that moves like clockwork through the Bay of Fundy.”
The companies said the latest award marks an important milestone for the marine energy sector in Canada, demonstrating growing investor confidence in tidal stream technology as a dependable component of the clean-energy mix and signalling Nova Scotia’s emergence as a global hub for commercial-scale tidal power.