Canada’s Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy has unveiled a C$500,000 programme to research the environmental impact of tidal turbines.
The environmental effects monitoring programme, co-funded by FORCE, the Offshore Energy Research Association and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy, will be conducted at the FORCE site at the Minas Passage.
The research will determine the effects of deployment and operation of tidal turbines on fish, lobster catchability, marine mammals and seabirds.
The monitoring plan was developed in consultation with SLR Consulting, provincial and federal regulators, and FORCE’s environmental monitoring advisory committee – which includes representatives from scientific, government, fishing, and indigenous communities.”We need to understand what effects in-stream tidal technologies may have on the marine ecosystem,” said FORCE general manager Tony Wright. “If tidal energy is to grow to a larger scale, development must happen responsibly.”
FORCE will make the data captured publicly available online.
Image: FORCE beach Fundy (FORCE)
