Nova Scotia just fulfilled its longstanding dream to harness the tides with an underwater windmill

In this early November photo, the 1000 tonne turbine
can be seen in the deployment barge, Scotia
Tide, just before being lowered to the seafloor.

Seven years after the Atlantic Ocean mercilessly chewed up its last attempt to harness the tides, on Tuesday Nova Scotia finally fulfilled its decades-long dream to put an underwater wind turbine on the floor of the Bay of Fundy.

“This is a proud and historic moment,” said the province’s energy minister, Michel Samson, as he flicked the switch to begin channelling two million watts of tidal electricity into the Nova Scotia grid.

Dubbed the Open-Centre Turbine, the 1000-tonne, 10-blade device was lowered to the ocean floor earlier this month before being plugged into the Nova Scotia power grid via underwater cable.

Capable of generating two megawatts, the experimental device generates as much electricity a standard-sized wind turbine. Or, as an official statement put it, the device is generating enough energy for “500 Nova Scotia homes.”

Read the Financial Post story - “Nova Scotia just fulfilled its longstanding dream to harness the tides with an underwater windmill.”