Why N.S. may be ‘closer than ever’ to harnessing Bay of Fundy tidal power

Nova Scotia is yet again trying to harness the immense power of the Bay of Fundy.

The Nova Scotia government is hoping a company can find success where it hasn’t been found before; harnessing tidal power from the Bay of Fundy.

It may feel like Deja Vu, with failed bids, more than a century worth of time and millions of dollars invested. But there’s hope that industry could be close to hitting the tidal energy jackpot.

“We are closer than ever, we have made incredible progress,” says Lindsay Bennett, the executive director of the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy, known as FORCE. “I fully anticipate that we will see a device deployed and generating clean, renewable electricity for us in Nova Scotia in the next two to three years.”

The Nova Scotia government says two tenders are almost ready to be issued for companies to work with FORCE in Parrsboro, after previously-failed endeavors from others.

The powerful tide rises an incredible 52 feet in just over six hours – which tops the global charts – with currents that are some of the most dangerous in the world and speeds reaching up to 18 kilometres per hour.

Approximately 160 billion tonnes of water flows through the Bay of Fundy each tide. According to FORCE, that’s about four times the estimated flow of all the freshwater rivers in the world combined.

But the bids to successfully do this work in the past have been challenging, with companies backing out blaming regulatory red tape and prohibitive costs.

“Working in this environment is definitely challenging,” says Bennett. “Anytime you’re doing something in the ocean, it’s going to be twice the cost. Tidal is a new sector, and so, there’s a lot of learning that has happened and that will continue.”

Bennett adds meeting the engineering, financing and regulatory requirements for projects to move forward is challenging.

“But we’re seeing it happen, we’re seeing it happen in other parts of the world and we’re seeing it happen here now as we progress things along in Nova Scotia,” she says.

“There’s studies and work being done in all of those areas, which again, is not an insurmountable problem,” says Dominic Groulx, the head of the mechanical engineering department at Dalhousie University. “It’s just a matter of getting it done and then moving forward.”

The reliability of tides plays an important part in its value.

“Tides are going to be there. As long as the moon goes around, the tides are going to be there,” Groulx says. “(That) just that makes it very attractive.”

Ottawa struck a task force in 2023 to help address some of the issues at play, which Bennett says is “a strong signal that (the federal government) aims to get this right.”

It prompted collaboration among regulators, industry and other partners. She says that was a key to making “a lot of progress that we are seeing over the past 12 months.”

Bennett adds tidal is an “incredibly compelling solution.”

“Its first argument is cutting emissions and countering the effects of climate change. A second strong value proposition for tidal is local economic development,” she says.

The provincial government agrees, there’s a “strong case” to pursue tidal energy.

In a statement, the Department of Energy tells CTV News, “We have subsea cables and onshore infrastructure in place to get energy into Nova Scotia homes, and we’re home to some of the best marine researchers and technology developers in the world.

“That makes us an excellent testing ground for the world’s leading tidal technologies.”

The province says a Power Advisory LLC, a third party, will start procurement in May – and licenses and power purchase agreements will be struck with successful bidders.

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