The industry is well aware of the setbacks, said Lindsay Bennett, executive director at FORCE.

The fishing industry unsuccessfully went to court to overturn a tidal approval due to concerns around wildlife monitoring and has questioned the industry’s impacts on fish and other sea creatures as a whole. In 2021, Nova Scotia Power shut down its tidal generating station after its generator failed and DFO stepped in, saying the project harmed fish. While the immense energy potential of the Bay of Fundy presents an opportunity for tidal, the strength of the tide can also be a barrier.Ī 1,300-tonne turbine has sat dormant on the ocean floor since 2018 after a company called OpenHydro filed for liquidation following the turbine breaking beyond repair two months after connecting to the province’s grid. In 2020, the project received almost $30 million from Natural Resources Canada - the largest government investment in tidal power.Ĭompared to other renewables like hydro, wind and solar, tidal power is less developed and there have been setbacks for the industry in Nova Scotia. The company had proposed to expand that project and move it to FORCE’s location in the Minas Passage, higher up in the Bay of Fundy where there are existing subsea cables for grid connection. Sustainable Marine has an existing tidal project in Grand Passage in the Bay of Fundy near Digby, which has been connected to Nova Scotia’s grid since 2022. Sustainable Marine’s project is a collaboration with the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE), a non-profit organization focused on tidal energy research in the Bay of Fundy, which has the highest tides in the world. And some in the industry say it’s an issue that is hindering tidal power expansion as a whole. Last month, Sustainable Marine Energy - a company with operations in Nova Scotia, Scotland and Germany - told the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) it wouldn’t be following through on its proposed tidal project following years of back and forth with the department. A lack of support from the federal government is hindering the growth of the tidal industry in Nova Scotia, claims a company that recently pulled its application to expand its tidal development in the Bay of Fundy.

The passage of power