Dutch company Tocardo is scheduled to start the in-water testing of its tidal technology at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) in Canada in late 2017.
“We are looking forward to demonstrating Tocardo’s capabilities in North America and hope to make Nova Scotia the centre of our future manufacturing operations,” said Hans Van Breugel , President of Tocardo.
Tocardo will deploy four of its 250kW-rated T2 bi-directional turbines, which will be attached to the company’s semi-submersible Universal Floating Platform Structure to form a 1MW system held in place by catenary mooring systems.
In July, it was announced that Tocardo teamed up with Minas Energy and International Marine Energy and formed Minas Tidal Limited Partnership (MTLP) with the aim to test its tidal energy technology in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.
The newly formed company has commenced discussions with local supply chain companies including fabricators, marine contractors, system integrators, engineers and scientists. The partnership will also undertake comprehensive stakeholder consultation with First Nations, the fisheries industry, regulators, and communities and complete all regulatory requirements prior to testing.
Minas Energy’s leasehold rights to the berth site at FORCE, along with a 4MW power purchase agreement awarded in December 2014 , will be transferred to Minas Tidal.