Canada Investing in Tidal Energy

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Canada Investing in Tidal Energy

The Company Intends to Initially Deploy a Single 1.5 Megawatt Ar-1500 Tidal Turbine System that Provides Enough Power to Serve up to 750 Local Homes

Singapore tidal developer says it plans to deploy a tidal turbine at a Bay of Fundy test site near Parrsboro in late 2016.

Atlantis Resources Ltd. said Wednesday its plans to install a single 1.5-megawatt device in Minas Passage about two years from now. The technology is a three-bladed turbine called MeyGen AR1500.

"Canada, in general, and the Bay of Fundy, in particular, offer world-class tidal energy resources to which our turbine technology is ideally suited," Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius said in a news release.

Cornelius couldn't be reached for further comment.

The Singapore company leads a consortium that also involvesLockheed MartinandIrving Shipbuilding.

Atlantis said in a written statement Wednesday that it plans to expand the project to include several turbines, called an array, after the testing phase is complete. The single device, which will be hooked up to the grid, is expected to produce enough electricity to power 750 homes for a year.

The Asian-headquartered developer also announced that it has signed a 10-year seabed sublease with the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy. The non-profit group administers the tidal demonstration project in Minas Passage.

A centre spokesman said all four turbine developers with berths at the site have now signed subleases.

Besides Atlantis, the three other groups are led byOpenHydro(owned by DCNS Group of France),Black Rock Tidal Power (owned bySchottel of Germany), andMinas Energy of Hantsport.

The berth holders each pay $1 million for access to the test area, an amount that helps cover construction costs. That includes undersea power cables that are being installed this fall.

The developers also pay annual fees, which go toward operating costs, as part of the sublease. The estimated amount they will pay is $200,000 to $300,000 per year, the centre said.

Meanwhile, Atlantis also plans to open a project office in Halifax early next year.

The company inked a $5-million grant agreement with Sustainable Development Technology Canada in June. A project agreement with the provincial Energy Department was also signed this month.

Source: The Chronicle Herald

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