Long-awaited tidal power project welcome news

Tidal power has come closer to reality with the recent announcement that Minas Basin Pulp and Power has conditional approval build and manage the continent’s first in-stream tidal technology centre. It also has a proposal for the tidal power generation technology.

The facility -- built possibly on the Parrsboro shore -- would house some of the leading tidal power retrieval technology available.

The three companies negotiating for the proposed technology include Minas Basin Pulp and Power, with its UEK Hydrokinetic Turbine; Nova Scotia Power Inc., with its OpenHydro Turbine; and Clean Current, with its Clean Current Mark III Turbine.

In his Jan. 8 announcement of the project, Premier Rodney MacDonald noted that the farther we get from coal-based energy, the better it will be for the environment.

The Bay of Fundy’s tides are the highest accessible ones in the world and are seen as the best in North America for power generation. Even better, they’re close to existing grids and markets.

What’s remarkable is we haven’t developed the generation capacity earlier.

The province itself provides some consumer base, particularly as we seek ways to wean ourselves off coal dependence. But we also have to have energy for social and industrial growth, not to mention some on hand to export for valuable revenues.

The good new is it’s completely natural and it’s here. As NSPI president and CEO Ralph Tedesco termed it, “renewable liquid gold from the Bay of Fundy.” And it is, as Energy Minister Richard Hurlburt noted, a brand new industry for the province.

The new industry -- based on a very old concept -- will provide potential markets for local suppliers and manufacturers. It could well help the province achieve its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 10 per cent below the 1990 level.

As well, given the Bay of Fundy’s unique circumstances, it’s also important that the facility – the Fundy Institute for Tidal Energy – is open for educational opportunities from elementary to university levels.

Conditions to meet include a strategic environmental assessment by early 2008; site-specific environmental assessments; permits and approvals from federal and provincial levels; a contribution agreement between the province and those involved in the development; and a land lease agreement between the province and participants.

This means that things won’t be immediate, but that any negative aspects can be addressed before the project is permanent.

Given the energy crunch our continental economy will face in the next few decades, if not years, the tidal power option is certainly unqualified and long-awaited good news. This is especially and additionally true if Hants County residents can benefit directly from the new approach to energy generation.