[LINK] "Massive tidal turbine in Bay of Fundy generating electricity for the first time"

[rfmcdonald]

MacLean's shares a Canadian Press article describing the successful, if expensive, working of the first installed tidal electricity generating plant in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy.

A massive underwater turbine started generating electricity from the world’s highest tides in the Bay of Fundy on Tuesday, a test project the Nova Scotia government says marks a turning point for Canada’s renewable energy sector.

North America’s first in-stream tidal turbine was officially linked to the province’s electricity grid around noon, said Cape Sharp Tidal, the consortium behind the ambitious project.

The turbine is producing enough energy to power 500 Nova Scotia homes.

[. . .]

The partnership behind the project includes Halifax-based Emera Inc. and OpenHydro, a French conglomerate that specializes in naval defence and energy. Its two-megawatt turbine was lowered to the bottom of the bay two weeks ago.

The 1,000-tonne machine is about five storeys tall, but it is only a test model. It is anchored on the seabed at the eastern end of the bay in the Minas Passage, a five-kilometre-wide channel near Parrsboro, N.S. The powerful tides there left a smaller test turbine badly damaged in 2009.

A second test turbine will be installed next year.

The completed four-megawatt demonstration project will use a fraction of the 7,000 megawatt potential of the Minas Passage, the government said.