British company Marine Current Turbines Ltd, the developer of SeaGen, the world’s largest and most advanced tidal stream energy system, has signed an agreement with Canada’s Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation to harness the huge tidal currents of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation (MTEC) and Marine Current Turbines (MCT) will shortly submit a joint proposal to the Nova Scotia Department of Energy to deploy MCT’s SeaGen technology in the Bay of Fundy, which has one of the greatest tidal resources in the world.
Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines said: “Working with MTEC in Canada, we will be using our unrivalled knowledge and experience from our 1.2MW SeaGen commercial tidal system as well as our previous work with our 300kW SeaFlow tidal project in the Bristol Channel, the world’s first offshore tidal stream device, to tap the massive potential that exists in the Bay of Fundy.”
Ron Scott of Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation added: “With MCT’s valuable engineering and environmental experience, MTEC can become a frontrunner in terms of in-stream tidal power development for the Bay of Fundy, and eventually elsewhere in the Atlantic Provinces and North America. This is a golden opportunity for Nova Scotia, which the Nova Scotia Government fully recognises, to provide the lead in marine energy generation in North America, moving away from carbon based fuel systems.”
The Nova Scotia Department of Energy plans to have tidal turbines operating in the Bay of Fundy during 2009. The Bay of Fundy is located on Canada’s eastern seaboard.
Notes to Editors
1. Marine Current Turbines Ltd (www.marineturbines.com) is based in Bristol, England. The company was established in 2000 and its principal corporate shareholders include BankInvest, EDF Energy, Guernsey Electricity and Triodos Bank. With SeaFlow, the word’s first offshore tidal stream device and SeaGen, the world’s largest grid-connected tidal stream system, MCT is the “first mover” in the development of tidal turbines and has a significant global technical lead in this field.
2. Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation (www.maritimetidal.com) is a Halifax, Nova Scotia ocean resources company with a particular interest in the electric power potential of Bay of Fundy tides. Its directors have expertise in mechanical and civil engineering, marine structures, oceanography and modelling.
3. At 1.2MW capacity, MCT’s SeaGen is the world’s largest tidal current device by a significant margin, with the unit able to generate clean and sustainable electricity for approximately 1000 homes. It is also a world first in being the prototype for commercial technology to be replicated on a large scale over the next few years.
4. SeaGen has been built and is awaiting final assembly at Harland & Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast. A single SeaGen device is expected to be deployed in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, during the first quarter of 2008. The project has been partially financed by the UK Government through BERR (formerly the DTI).
For further information:
Marine Current Turbines
Martin Wright/Joe Verdi
Tel: +44 117 979 1888
or
Paul Taylor (Taylor Keogh Communications)
Tel: +44 20 3170 8465 / +44 7966 782611
E: paul@taylorkeogh.com
Maritime Tidal Energy Corporation
Ron Scott
Tel: +1 902 423 5000
E: maritimetidal@ns.sympatico.ca