Cape Sharp Tidal lays cables

Cape Sharp Tidal has completed the installation of its subsea power cable and launched its deployment barge.

A joint venture between Emera and OpenHydro, Cape Sharp Tidal, completed the cable laying operation in a single tidal cycle, while holding position over Cape Sharp Tidal’s berth site at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) near Parrsboro, Nova Scotia.

Supported by its marine operations partner Atlantic Towing, Cape Sharp Tidal deployed 300 m of power and fibre-optic data cable from a specially-outfitted barge, the company’s press release reads.

Teams also recovered and lifted the existing 16 MW subsea export cable installed by FORCE, and using an on-deck mating table, linked it to the Cape Sharp’s interconnection hub.

The whole system was placed back on the sea floor, where the cables will remain until spring 2016, when the turbines are scheduled for deployment.

In addition to cable installation, Cape Sharp Tidal launched The Scotia Tide barge, designed by OpenHydro and built by Aecon Group in Pictou.

The vessel is 64 m long, 37 m wide, weighs 650 tonnes, and has a 1,150 tonne carrying capacity.

The barge is purpose-built for deployment and recovery operations, and equipped with three heavy-lift winches that enable it to lower and raise turbines from the sea floor.

Cape Sharp Tidal’s 1,000 tonne turbines will be towed from Pictou Harbour to the FORCE test site in Parrsboro next spring.

 
James Ives, OpenHydro’s CEO, said: “The barge launch and the cable installation are both Nova Scotia-made solutions that get us one step closer to a successful tidal array in this first demonstration phase of the Cape Sharp Tidal project.”

Chris Huskilson, President and CEO of Emera, added: “Every success of Cape Sharp Tidal manufacturing and operations is an important step toward building a tidal energy sector in Nova Scotia.”

Cape Sharp Tidal plans to install and grid-connect a 4 MW tidal array consisting of two 2 MW tidal turbines at FORCE site, off Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, Canada.

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