Cork firm developing Canadian tidal energy project
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Cork firm DP Energy has entered into a development agreement with two international firms to build a new tidal energy generation project in Nova Scotia in Canada.
The Uisce Tapa project is already well advanced, with testing underway for the monitoring platform and the project could ultimately deliver 9MW of power. The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia is home to some of the highest tides in the world, with a tidal range in excess of 13 metres and currents that exceed 10 knots (5m/s).
Headquartered in Buttevant, North Cork DP Energy develops projects worldwide and already has a global portfolio of over 5GW across onshore wind, solar, and offshore wind technologies in Australia, Canada, the UK and Ireland.
The company has entered a Joint Development Agreement with energy utility company Chubu Electrical Power and cargo shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha to develop the first phase of Uisce Tapa. The project holds a 15-year purchase agreement of $530/MWh (€358/MWh) awarded under Nova Scotia’s Marine Renewable Energy Act and is the recipient of a $29.75m (€25.31m) grant from Natural Resources Canada.
Simon De Pietro, CEO of DP Energy said they will be developing the project in one of the most challenging marine environments in the world. “Whilst our first Ocean Energy project, Uisce Tapa, is modest in scale we anticipate it will fill the essential step from technology demonstration to early array demonstration that will lead to the development of further tidal energy projects at utility-scale in Canada and other markets, and provide a stepping stone to DP Energy’s plans for wave energy off the West Coast here in Ireland.”