Two Nova Scotian projects have been selected and received funding to develop environmental monitoring technologies for tidal energy applications.
The Offshore Energy Research Association of Nova Scotia said last week that industry and academic researchers will join forces to collaborate on the two projects, which have a combined research value of almost $500,000.
The projects were selected for funding through a joint research competition sponsored by the OERA, the Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Innovacorp.
Open Seas Instrumentation Inc., or OSI, of Musquodoboit Harbour was awarded $135,000 and JASCO Applied Sciences of Dartmouth is receiving $65,000 in funding, with the balance of research costs sourced from partner contributions.
“The key to developing a sustainable and successful tidal energy industry in Nova Scotia is understanding how turbines interact with the environment in the Bay of Fundy,” OERA Executive Director Stephen Dempsey said in the statement. “These research projects will not only help us enhance how we monitor the environment near an operating turbine, but is expected to bring technology innovation to the sector, that is developed here and exported abroad.”
The statement said each project introduces an innovative approach to monitoring marine life near a tidal turbine. The research results will lead to greater understanding of the complex relationships between tidal energy development and the biological and physical ocean environment.
The Open Seas project focuses on the redesign of a subsea platform for monitoring movement and behavior of marine life close to the turbine. The redesign integrates an adjustable structure into the Fundy Advanced Sensor Technology platform so that sensors can collect data from a wide range of viewing perspectives including the face of the turbine. Project partners are the Nova Scotia Community College, Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy, Acadia University, DSA, and Ocean Moor Technical Services. Testing will take place in the Minas Passage and the project is expected to be finished in June.
The JASCO project will develop a long-term monitoring program to measure how sound propagates in turbulent waters so we can better understand how these conditions impact on the ability to acoustically detect marine life. Researchers will also estimate for different marine organisms, their ability to audibly detect turbines in turbulent waters. The proposed work will involve the novel integration of different hydrophones and sensor technologies, with testing to be conducted in the Bay of Fundy. Project partners are Dalhousie University and Luna Ocean Consulting Ltd. They’re expecting to wrap up in August 2018.
