Amendments Support Tidal Energy Industry

Government is making changes to the Marine Renewable-energy Act to ensure Nova Scotia remains at the leading edge of developing tidal technologies and greening our electricity grid.

As a result, government will issue new power purchase agreements to existing feed-in-tariff holders. Developers will continue to have the ability to sell electricity to the utility for up to 15 years, once their projects are operational.

The original agreements were signed in 2014-2015. These amendments give developers time to make the most of their investments and build on their progress to date.

“We remain committed to greening the electricity grid as part of our climate change action and tidal energy is a huge opportunity for us,” said Energy and Mines Minister Derek Mombourquette. “Tidal developers have invested significantly here and we’re seeing progress, but it can take decades for a new industry to develop. We are excited about the future of tidal.”

The amendments also include minor administrative changes in the act.

Nova Scotia remains on track to meet or exceed the legislated target of having 40 per cent of electricity generated by renewable sources by 2020.

Quotes:

“This is very welcome news for the tidal energy sector in Nova Scotia. A supportive and stable market environment is required to attract the investment required to transition from research and development, into an industry that can deliver commercially viable, abundant and predictable clean energy. This will enable us to continue our staged approach to delivering our project at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy, which builds on our successful demonstration at Grand Passage.”

– Jason Hayman, managing director, Sustainable Marine Energy

“Government is recognizing the challenges that an emerging clean technology like tidal energy faces to reach commercialization. The amendments establish the predictability and certainty tidal developers need to build on previous investments, attract additional support, and ensure projects advance successfully.”

– Elisa Obermann, executive director, Marine Renewables Canada

Quick Facts:

• there are currently four licence holders at the FORCE test site in the Minas Passage
• the department has also approved three demonstration permits
• renewable energy use in Nova Scotia has more than tripled over the past 10 years

Additional Resources:

FORCE: https://fundyforce.ca/