Tangled lines keep Cape Sharp Tidal turbine at bay

 
Cape Sharp Tidal has identified the line entanglement around OpenHydro’s turbine system which could further delay its retrieval from the Bay of Fundy.

A joint venture between Emera and Open Hydro, Cape Sharp Tidal, has restarted the retrieval operation of OpenHydro’s 2MW tidal turbine deployed at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) berth, having missed the opportunity to recover the turbine during the first tidal window.

During the first retrieval attempt, the operations crew disconnected the turbine from the transmission cable at FORCE. However, it was determined that there is a line, possibly a mooring line or other marine line, entangled around the turbine system, and likely around the turbine’s subsea base tubes, Stacey Pineau, spokeswoman for Cape Sharp Tidal confirmed.

Stacey Pineau said: “The operations crew is currently working to determine the best approach for removing it. They will be working during this tidal window to determine how to remove the line in a way that is safe for the crew and doesn’t result in damage to the turbine.

“They’re going to take the necessary time to understand and do this work carefully, so it is possible the retrieval work will extend into future tidal windows.”

Cape Sharp Tidal is retrieving the whole turbine system to make adjustments and upgrades to components in the OpenHydro turbine control center (TCC).

The turbine was deployed at FORCE site in November 2016. The second 2MW turbine for the project is expected to be deployed later this year.