Cape Sharp Tidal aims to install Bay of Fundy turbine by end of 2015

Nova Scotia is a step closer at another attempt at harnessing power from the highest tides in the world.

At an open house last night in Halifax, Cape Sharp Tidal a collaboration between OpenHydro and Emera said it was putting the finishing touches on a 1,000-tonne turbine set to be installed in the Bay of Fundy by the end of 2015.

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"At this stage, we are finalizing the manufacturing. We'll be assembling the turbine components in the next few days," said Jeremy Poste, the project leader of Cape Sharp Tidal.

"Definitely between Novemberand December, by the end of this year, we will have a turbine under water, on seabed, generating electricity."

A second turbine is expected tobe installed some time inearly 2016.

This is not the first time an attempt has been made to harness the power of the ocean for energy of the Bay of Fundy.

OpenHydro the Irish company which installed the world's first 1-megawatt tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy and its partner Nova Scotia Power deployed a 10-tonne turbine on the floor of the Minas Passage in November 2009.

However, just 20 days later, all 12 rotor blades were destroyed by tidal flows that were two and a half times stronger than for what the turbine was designed.

Chance of a big pay off

According to its website, Cape Sharp Tidalhas potential toprovide energy to more than 1,000 customers in Nova Scotia and that's just the beginning.

If the project gets further approval down the road, the goal will be to get300 megawatts of energy by the 2020s, generating power for nearly 75,000 customers.

Cape Sharp Tidal will be the first of a number of turbine projects in the Bay of Fundy in the coming years.

The research group monitoring the area says four developers, including Cape Sharp, looking to harness power from the Bay of Fundy.

"We've done a lot of work to get the site ready, we've completed the off-shore facility, installed four sub sea cables to the berth sites," said Tony Wright,general manager ofFundyOcean Research Centre for Energy.

"Now we have our first developer getting ready to go so it's a very interesting and exciting time."

There will be another open house for the public to learn about Cape Sharp Tidal on Oct. 5 in Wolfville.