Cape Sharp Tidal makes new EEMP guarantees

 
Cape Sharp Tidal has made additional commitments to Environmental Effects and Monitoring Program (EEMP), approved by Nova Scotia government, ahead of tidal turbine deployment in the Bay of Fundy.

With final preparations now underway to deploy and grid-connect Nova Scotia’s first in-stream tidal turbine at the FORCE site near Parrsboro, the company behind the project, Cape Sharp Tidal, has made further commitments to enhance EEMP which resulted from the several months of consultations with the stakeholders in the area.

Namely, the company has committed to explore ways to build on its existing monitoring program through incorporating the latest available monitoring technology once the turbines are retrieved for regular maintenance.

Also, Cape Sharp Tidal will continue its efforts to strengthen the relationship with local fishery with funding support to enhance population data, and will participate in multi-day workshop focused on key fish populations in the Minas Passage.

Based on the ongoing dialogue with lobster harvesters and as a member of FORCE, Cape Sharp Tidal made a pledge to work with FORCE on potential future lobster monitoring studies at the demonstration site.

Furthermore, the company complied to the request of fishing community to mount a camera towards the face of the turbine, and also to staggered turbine deployment to allow additional opportunity for data monitoring, collection and analysis.

Cape Sharp Tidal made guarantees to voluntarily remove its turbines from the FORCE site if they are found to cause population-level effects on marine species, and to create an improved consultation process, working with individual fishers and associations to develop a tailored terms of reference to guide post-deployment dialogue.

“In the last five months, we’ve engaged dozens of individuals and groups. We committed to listen, and to learn from what we heard. Together with FORCE, we made an extensive effort to address concerns and answer questions,” Cape Sharp Tidal said.

Pending favorable weather conditions for deployment and cable connections, the marine activities related to the deployment of the first 2MW tidal turbine will begin this week, according to Cape Sharp Tidal.

The company aims to install the first turbine by the end of 2016, while the works to deploy the second turbine, and complete the 4MW tidal array, will begin next year.