bc2009: First of its kind tidal energy project closer to reality in Campbell River

First of its kind tidal energy project closer to reality in Campbell River

COMMENT: I am keenly in favour of government support for emerging technologies, particularly with ocean energy - tides and waves. This is one place that BC still has a chance to develop knowledge and technology which can be deployed and marketed globally. It's nearly a decade too late for BC to take any leadership with wind energy, and a century too late with small hydro.

Various financial methods have been devised to bridge the gap between the cheaper methods and mature technologies for electricity generation and emerging technologies. The simplest are feed-in tarriffs. These subsidies kick in only when electricity is being generated and fed into the grid.

The Canoe Pass proposal has no immediate aspirations to sell electricity to BC Hydro. It certainly could, in the future, if it works, but without a feed-in tarriff, there is no way it could deliver that power for anything close to the already pretty steep rates that BC Hydro is paying for new energy these days.

The problem with this proposal, is that it is completely motivated by federal and now provincial grants and funding opportunities. There is no revenue stream anticipated in the business plans that I have seen. And the problem with that is, when the funding runs out, the project is kaput.

So, it is a workable concept - though it's unfortunate that it's a Calgary company providing the turbines - but it has the most unbusinesslike business proposal.

In my view, the proponents should be told to go away and come back with a business plan. If a subsidy, a feed-in tarriff is required, let's browbeat our government to implement one. It's long overdue.

Campbell River Courier-Islander
Saturday, April 04, 2009

A $2 million funding announcement Friday by the provincial government will help make Campbell River a leader in the national and global tidal energy field and result in the deployment of the first commercial scale tidal current electrical turbine in North America.

BC's Ministry of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development awarded Canoe Pass Tidal Energy Corporation (CPTEC) of Campbell River the money under its Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund and the company plans to have its turbines in place before the end of 2010.

The site of the project is in the tidal channel between Quadra Island and Maude Island, just north of Campbell River. It will utilize a causeway constructed between the two islands for the 1958 Ripple Rock explosion that blew the tops off of under water twin peaks in adjoining Seymour Narrows. The peaks had played havoc with navigation through the tumultuous passage, and claimed many lives over the years. The causeway is still in tact and will provide a still water environment for construction and installation.

The tidal movements in the area are among the strongest and most reliable on the west coast, a key element in the powering of the turbines.
This will also mean an economic boost for the Campbell River area as goods and services requirements of the project are apportioned out to local suppliers.

The plan, called the Canoe Pass Commercialization Project, will see two 250 kW tidal turbines installed on the causeway and CPTEC president Chris Knight said the ICE fund money is definitely a green light for one of the greenest sources of energy there is.

"We're extremely pleased with the ICE Fund's decision," said Knight. "This is the final piece of the project's funding requirements. We hope to have the turbines in the water and operating before our Olympic year is over."

The project is being implemented by the Canoe Pass Consortium that includes New Energy Corp. of Calgary. New Energy has developed the EnCurrent Turbine system upon which the 250 kW model is based. Also included in the consortium is Rivercorp, the City of Campbell River's economic development corporation.

New Energy Corp. CEO Clayton Bear said the funding will enable the consortium to implement its leading edge technology and move toward the ultimate goal of providing green energy power to the BC Hyro grid.

"We have built complete water to wire systems at 10, 15 and 25 kW outputs," said Bear. "The Canoe Pass project will enable us to validate our technology at a commercial power project scale and in a marine environment."

CPTEC is a founding member of the Ocean Renewable Energy Group, Canada's unique ocean energy sector organization. Knight, was its first chairman, and he said all the parties involved are anxious to finally begin on-site development of the technology.

"The project has four objectives," said Knight. "Validate the technology at commercial scale in an ocean environment, model the project review and permitting process, demonstrate the reliability and quality of power through connection to the BC Hydro grid and create a data base for environmental interface and impact assessment through a rigorous monitoring and evaluation program."

The project could not have happened without wide-spread community support, including Canada's first rezoning of land for tidal power generation. Local involvement and support are a key aspect of this project's development, said Knight.

"This project, so far, could not have happened without community and regional support," said Thor Peterson, a director of Canoe Pass. "Everyone is behind it because they know tidal energy is probably one of the greenest forms of electrical generation there is and our coast has lots of potential in that field. The regional district even re-zoned the site for tidal power generation, that's the first time that's been done in Canada."

The project continues to proceed through national and provincial review and permitting processes, Detailed engineering design and technology scale-up are the next steps, said Knight.

Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 07 Apr 2009