Canadian tidal developer Sustainable Marine has completed construction of its next-generation platform in Nova Scotia and has launched it in the Bay of Fundy.
The new 420kW PLAT-I 6.40 floating tidal energy platform was recently completed at AF Theriault & Son in Meteghan.
The platform will undergo commissioning and testing in Grand Passage and will then be moved to the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy site as part of the first phase of the Pempa’q In-stream Tidal Energy Project.
The total in-stream tidal energy project will deliver up to 9MW of electricity to the Nova Scotia grid.
The Pempa’q project takes its name from the Mi’kmaq First Nation word ‘Pempa’q’ meaning ‘rise of the tide’, in honour of the Bay of Fundy’s indigenous communities.
Sustainable Marine CEO Jason Hayman said: “This tidal technology is the result of a tremendous international effort combining world-class scientific and engineering expertise from our German, Scottish and Canadian teams, and is the culmination of a decade of research and development.
“We are very fortunate to have such strong support from our major shareholders, SCHOTTEL and Scottish Enterprise, the Government of Canada, and a wide range of partners and collaborators.
“The PLAT-I 6.40 has been designed specifically for the Pempa’q Project – where we will deliver the world’s first floating tidal array – in Nova Scotia, which has the best natural resources in the world to produce clean renewable tidal energy.”
The PLAT-I 6.40 produces 50% more power than its predecessor, the PLAT-I 4.63, which has undergone rigorous testing since 2017, firstly in Scotland before relocation to Grand Passage, Nova Scotia, in 2018.