The TPS project, which includes energy storage and system controls that enable balancing of power production with community load, is likely to last for a year with commissioning set for the fall 2014.
The project will select energy storage technology partner based on economics, proven reliability, and business opportunity to best meet its desired design objectives including anticipated output of the Clean Current turbine.
The companies are working together on the project, a part of the Acadia University led research project, funded under Natural Resources Canada’s ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative (ecoEII), which is aimed cost-effectively producing tidal energy through comprehensive hydrodynamic site assessment techniques.
The ecoEII project’s initial phases will include choosing the turbine berth site and providing TPS design criteria.
The TPS project, which leverages around $3.3m of work currently underway under the ecoEII project, allows the final phase, namely tidal turbine monitoring, evaluating the effects of energy extraction on the natural flow regime, and validation and improvement of site assessment models.
Fundy Tidal president Vince Stuart said the latest agreement is another milestone in the company’s goal to play a key role in initiating tidal energy R&D activities in Digby County and seeing its COMFIT projects become operational.
"We consider Clean Current to be a leading tidal turbine developer in Canada and are very pleased they have chosen to work with us in Nova Scotia to test their latest technology," Stuart added.
