Page 49: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2012)

SpeciÞ cally, is the Bay of Fundy area seen strictly as one of the worldÕs harshest testing grounds for subsea equipment, or are there plans on the board to eventually commercialize, to harness the power of the tides for commercial use. DK FORCE is here to better understand the potential to commercialize, and support informed decisions. Ultimately, the move to large-scale projects will depend on investors, governments, public conÞ dence, and most importantly consumers Ð they pay for the electricity. But as the technology matures, the potential is deÞ nitely there. Models suggest we can safely extract 2500 megawatts from the Minas Passage during peak ß ows Ð and the peak electricity demand for the entire province in only 2300 megawatts.With this potential in mind, we have built capacity for growth into our electrical infrastructure. We have enough submarine cable capacity for 64 megawatts, which is like putting 64 commercial-scale turbines in the water. This means we have more capacity than any other tidal turbine site in the world.The province has also supported the idea of commercial growth by creating feed-in tariffs for tidal Ð an effective way to incent development in the Bay of Fundy. The feed-in tariff has garnered the interest of every major tidal developer on the planet. What, currently, do you count as your Greatest Technological needs and challenges to help you go about your daily work? DK For FORCE, one of our greatest needs is access to high quality, site-speciÞ c data. Developers, researchers, and regulators all want that data, and acquiring it in a high ß ow site like ours is challenging. SpeciÞ cally, what kinds of companies/technologies/ capabilities are the priority to develop in the coming 12 to 24 months?DK We donÕt comment on speciÞ c companies Ð our Discovering Atlantic Canada NOVA SCOTIA Atlantic Canada Supplementwww.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 49NS Power Deployment. MTR2 Canada Supplement 49-64.indd 49MTR2 Canada Supplement 49-64.indd 492/23/2012 10:16:40 AM2/23/2012 10:16:40 AM