Western Tidal Holdings has applied to the province for permission to investigate installing undersea turbines to generate power at sites close to Trial Island and Race Rocks.
The projects are part of a suite of 14 tidal-power projects the Nanaimo-based company is proposing on B.C.’s coast.
Last year, the company made similar applications for another site near Race Rocks, as well as sites in Active Pass and a location between Mayne and Pender islands. Those applications are still under review.
Western Tidal chief executive Rob Savard said the projects are all a long way from being built. This step is just intended to investigate the resource in various channels, he said.
“You need to know what’s in the water and how it flows to determine the amount of resource and what can be produced from a particular area,” he said.
Should the province grant the licences to measure the current at the new sites, Western Tidal hopes to put what Savard calls an innocuous testing device into the water for between three and six months starting this summer.
Near Race Rocks, the company intends to measure currents over a 330-hectare site that wraps around the island to the east, south and west. At Trial Island, it will test a 440-hectare zone again wrapping around the island to the east, south and west.
According to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, the testing will not interrupt marine life nor the shores.
Savard said he’s not sure what to expect from the sites in terms of their potential, but noted tidal energy technology has evolved to the point where projects like this make sense.
“We think tidal is a good option, at least as an insurance policy for government to consider,” he said, noting run-of-river and renewable energy’s solar and wind projects can suffer as a result of climate change. “Tidal is predictable power. But what if the wind stops blowing, or there’s no snow pack and what about drought, forest fires — that can impact your ability to produce electricity.”
A Ministry of Energy and Mines spokesperson said there is plenty of potential for ocean energy development but little demand “given the province’s abundant and present surplus of electricity from other, less expensive sources of clean or renewable energy.”
According to ministry figures, an estimated 2,000 megawatts from tidal energy and 6,000 megawatts from wave energy technology have been identified as available for capture in B.C.
The ministry also pointed out that while one pilot project produced electricity from tidal currents in B.C.’s coastal waters, that technology is being deployed in Nova Scotia. There are also two projects showcasing wave and tidal energy technology in water off Vancouver Island and the north coast.
Savard said that, though all the projects could generate as much as 330 megawatts of power, he expects Western Tidal could wind up with only two or three projects running and producing between 25 and 50 megawatts for the grid.
When Western Tidal applied for licences to investigate currents last year, some critics worried about the impact on marine life, and in particular the resident orca population.
Savard said he has heard those concerns. “People are very protective of their orcas, and so are we. We are environmental businessmen, that’s what I consider myself to be,” he said. “Yes, we have to make money but we also will spend money on our project on anything that will avoid impacts on marine wildlife.”
Sierra Club B.C. spokesman Tim Pearson said in general it’s the kind of project the environmental group supports.
“These are the types of projects we need to be moving to, more sources of renewable energy, moving away from big fossil-fuel projects, pipelines and so on,” he said.
Pearson said as Western Tidal is still at the feasibility stage — and has not yet determined which technology it would deploy in any specific site — it’s premature to look at what impact any turbine might have on marine life.
“Obviously, you want to be looking at technology that is as low-impact as possible,” he said. “If they identify locations they think this kind of project is feasible, they would put in a formal proposal … and it’s at that point you need to make sure the proper review and assessment is built in.”
If Western Tidal gets its licences to test and finds a project is viable, it would then have to apply to the province for a general area licence of occupation that would include a comprehensive project-development plan.
The ministry said before a licence to test the current is issued, the province will consider all feedback from First Nations, local governments, various agencies and the public.
The public has until May 21 to provide feedback on the application via email at AuthorizingAgency.Nanaimo@gov.bc.ca.
