Canadian tidal project bags multi-million funding

Black Rock Tidal Power (BRTP), a Schottel Hydro subsidiary, has raised C$15 million for the realization of 2.5 MW Triton tidal energy project in Canada.

The company has also secured a commercial loan of C$4.5 million, in addition to the private equity cash of C$10.5 million, bringing the total acquired funding for the project to C$15 million ($11.5 million), Schottel Hydro’s press release reads.

The private equity includes investments from Envirotek, Inerjys Ventures, and the shareholders of the Schottel Group,

Triton is a floating platform which carries a number of Schottel instream turbines that can generate up to 2.5 MW of electricity from tidal currents.

The device is planned for installation in autumn 2016 at the BRTP berth located at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) in Canada.

Together with the berth at FORCE, BRTP has been awarded the developmental tidal feed-in tariff (FIT) and the respective power purchase agreement with Nova Scotia Power, according to Schottel Hydro, which further states that BRTP also set up a SPV company which will take over its Triton tidal energy platform once fully commissioned in 2015.

Sue Molloy, General Manager of BRTP, said: “This is good news for the tidal industry in Nova Scotia and an important step towards proving the commercial viability of our technology and of tidal energy in general. The Province of Nova Scotia has shown great commitment to the tidal industry by setting up FORCE and by establishing the developmental FIT.”

The electricity generated from the tidal energy platform will be fed into the North American power supply system and the SPV will operate the device over the fifteen years duration of the FIT.

Schottel Hydro, a German-based company, provides services in three segments: hydrokinetic turbines, semi-submerged platforms, and components such as turbine hubs and drives. It has established BRTP in 2013 in an effort to increase the company’s activites in North American market.

Inerjys Ventures, and Envirotek, are clean energy and technology investment companies from Canada and Singapore respectively.

Image: Schottel Hydro