Bay of Fundy may get world's largest turbine

The company that recently installed the world's largest tidal turbine off the coast of Scotland wants to test the same machine in the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia.

Atlantis Resources Corp. is prepared to install the unit an 18-metre rotor diameter turbine that can power up to 1,000 homes at a site near Parrsboro, N.S.,next year, Joseph Fison, the company's director of corporate development, said Tuesday.

The company's five-storey high turbine was placed in the water near the Orkney Islands last month.

The company also has projects in Australia and India, and despite setbacks experienced by the first turbine in the Bay of Fundy, Atlantis is keen to try its luck in Nova Scotia.

"We have a global model of resource locations, and we believe the Bay of Fundy is one of the best in the world," Fison said.

"We see this as an ideal location for the AK1000 device, which is the same device which was deployed in the Orkneys. So, this is less about R&D development and more about actually getting a commercial turbine in the water and generating power in Nova Scotia as soon as possible."

A $10-millionturbine deployed in November 2009 by Nova Scotia Power in the Minas Passage, about 10 kilometres west of Parrsboro, was damaged and will be hauled out of the water this fall.

The company discovered thattwo blades, made from blends of plastics and glass,on the 400-tonne experimental turbine broke off in May. The malfunction forced Nova Scotia Power to pull the device out of the water a year ahead of schedule.

The utility and its partner, OpenHydro, said it will retrieve the turbine between August and October depending on the weather to find out what went wrong.

Two other companies, Minas Basin Pulp and Power and B.C.-based Clean Current, have also been chosen to test turbines in the Bay of Fundy but have delayed their projects until 2012.

Atlantis is waiting for Nova Scotia officials to issue a formal call for more detailed proposals later this year.

The companyhas offices in Singapore and London, and its largest investor is the Morgan Stanley bank.