Gaps in tidal power addressed in federal project

HALIFAX -- Ottawa has announced $1 million to help address challenges in harnessing the crushing tides of the Bay of Fundy and beyond to create renewable energy.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr says the project led by the Offshore Energy Research Association will address current knowledge gaps in tidal power.

The association's executive director, Stephen Dempsey, says the challenges include addressing tidal power's unknown environmental impacts.

Carr says with the longest coastline in the world, Canada is in a position to become a global leader in tidal power.

Last November, a turbine began producing electricity as part of a test project at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre near Parrsboro, N.S., on the Bay of Fundy -- which has some the world's highest tides.

The Nova Scotia government and the association are each contributing $125,000 to the project.

• 

  A group of hikers makes their way along the ocean floor of the Bay of Fundy as they explore Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park during low tide in Hopewell Cape, N.B. on June 8, 2014. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)