Irish firm provides turbine for tidal project in Canada

A DUBLIN company has won a key element of an €8 million development to provide tidal powered electricity to a Canadian power company.

OpenHydro will officially announce later this week that its innovative power-generating turbine will be the focus of an experiment by Nova Scotia Power.

The turbine will be installed in the Bay of Fundy on Canada’s east coast although the company does not expect widespread production until 2009.

Spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power Margaret Murphy told Canadian press the project will test the water for a full-scale tidal-power facility later in the decade.

“There is a lot of research associated with this project. It’s not at the stage where you can just deploy this commercially. We are going to commit significant dollars to it, but because of the R&D nature of this, we’re looking for funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.”

The OpenHydro technology is patented worldwide and involves a single turbine unit mounted on brackets which allow it to sit well below the surface of the water. It has a minimum impact on the environment.

OpenHydro estimates a single turbine would cut the production of 450 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

Nova Scotia Power has not decided on the exact location where it will install the turbine. The Bay of Fundy experiences the world’s highest tides.