Sustainable Marine back on track to link tidal device to Nova Scotia grid

Sustainable Marine has returned to work at the Grand Passage in the Bay of Fundy to connect its next-gen floating tidal energy platform PLAT-I to Nova Scotia’s power grid.

Having completed the construction of a new substation at Grand Passage in 2021, Sustainable Marine has returned to the site for subsea cable laying and installation portion of work required to link what’s said to be the world’s first floating tidal energy array to Nova Scotia grid.

The preparation activities at the Freeport substation have been intensified as the shore-side cable energization approaches, the company informed, following the improvement in weather conditions which made it difficult to complete the operations earlier.

Sustainable Marine noted the Tidal Pioneer multi-use vessel, said to be the most advanced marine operations support vessel on Canada’s east coast, has been central to the substation connection works, proving its capacity to navigate and manage one of the most active marine environments in the world.

Once the cable lay is complete, Sustainable Marine will connect it to the PLAT-I 6.40  floating tidal energy platform – currently on its moorings in the Grand Passage.

Also, the company said it will continue to test its new environmental monitoring systems under ‘Operation Sub-See’ into the spring.

“We would like to thank the community and our partners for their continued interest and support as we take a leap forward in the race to net-zero carbon emissions and renewable energy targets while making some history together,” Sustainable Marine said in a statement.

The company said earlier it plans to complete the connection of the PLAT-I platform in the first quarter of 2022, as it aims to become the first company to put floating instream tidal energy into the Canadian power grid.

The 420kW will be deployed at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) site as part of the first phase of the Pempa’q In-stream Tidal Energy Project.

The total project will deliver up to 9MW of electricity to the Nova Scotia grid. This will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and power approximately 3000 homes in Nova Scotia, according to Sustainable Marine.

The Pempa’q Instream Tidal Energy project is supported by the Government of Canada with $22.3 million in funding – one of Canada’s largest-ever investments in tidal energy.

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