A $4-million tidal-power demonstration project near Victoria will spur the development of similar facilities in B.C. and worldwide, say the project's participants and supporters.

Vancouver-based Clean Current Power Systems Inc.'s technology harnesses kinetic energy from tides and converts it to electricity. Installed on the ocean's floor, it will provide electricity to houses, boathouses and laboratories at a Lester B. Pearson College educational and research centre at the Race Rocks provincial ecological reserve.

Pearson College, which teaches 200 full-scholarship students from 88 countries and acts as the environmental steward for Race Rocks, will incorporate the technology into some of its study programs. Clean Current president and CEO Glen Darou says the demonstration project will be the first tidal-power facility to operate in Canada.

"I think it will (lead to an increase in tidal-power projects), because it's creating a lot of attention for ocean energy," says Darou. "Most Canadians don't even know that it exists and don't even know the potential that's there."

Photo courtesy Lester B. Pearson College
Starting in 2006, the system at Race Rocks will harness the massive, reliable force of tides to generate electricity.

A number of other B.C. tidal-energy projects are in the planning stages.

Clean Current plans to fine-tune its technology and then license it to a generator manufacturer.

Darou expects the technology to be ready for commercial use by 2008. Canada's largest independent oil and gas producer, Calgary-based EnCana Corp., is picking up the bulk of the demo project's tab - $3 million - through its Environmental Innovation Fund, while Clean Current raised the remaining $1 million.

Darou says the technology has better than 50 per cent "water-to-wire" efficiency, which means it captures more electricity and, contrary to other systems, does not damage coastlines.

The system is the first of its kind in Canada that uses a bi-directional ductal horizontal turbine with a direct drive variable speed magnetic generator. The Race Rocks project will be under a great deal of scrutiny as it tries to prove it can protect the ecological reserve, says Darou.

The company will operate the system for five years as it develops the technology and studies energy efficiency, effect on sea life, corrosion, maintenance issues and other factors. At the end of the five-year period, Clean Current will sell the facility to Pearson College or the provincial government for a token $1 fee.

Now under construction, the system at Race Rocks is being built on a one-quarter scale of its intended 14-metre size. It is slated to be installed and begin operations in the first quarter of 2006, weather permitting.

Located at the eastern entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the islands that make up Race Rocks are actually the visible top of an undersea mountain.

Race Rocks tides reach peak speeds of eight knots or four metres per second.

Tidal power works according to the same principle as wind power, but the tide's velocity is eight-times greater than wind, says Darou.

The power produced will be "very variable" but quite predictable, he adds, because tide changes can be forecast to the minute on a 19-year cycle.

However, Darou says B.C.'s economic climate is not very good when it comes to producing tidal power. B.C. has lots of potential to produce tidal power but there's no encouragement from either the provincial or federal government at this point, he says.

The B.C. government has licensed the Race Rocks project, but is not funding its development. Surrey-based Powertech Labs, a subsidiary of provincially owned BC Hydro, is providing some technical help.

Darou and environmentalists are calling on the province to include tidal power in the provincial electricity grid in order to make the technology commercially viable. (The underwater turbine will transfer electricity to Race Rocks buildings via a high-voltage battery system that is separate from the provincial grid.)

Clean Current can produce electricity at a cost of six to eight cents US per kilowatt hour, says Darou, but can't compete against cheaper hydroelectricity, which B.C. has in abundance.

Tidal power will have to sell itself on its ability to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and fossil-fuel consumption, says Darou. He predicts that only one type of tidal-power technology will succeed in the marketplace.

Guy Dauncey, founder and president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, agrees the Race Rocks project will spur future tidal-power development projects. "It doesn't have a lot to do with whether it's a small or big company (providing the development funding) - whatever it takes to get moving," says Dauncey.

He says there are at least four types of tidal-energy technology - all variations of wind turbines - being developed. The market will ultimately decide which one gets used.

"We have to let the experiments be done to determine the actual winner," says Dauncey.

Darou says, based on his company's research, the underwater apparatus is not expected to harm sea life. The fish will likely swim around the device or its humming sound will keep them away.

But Dauncey says more study on the environmental impact must be done while the technology is operating.

"We've got to get into the water and find these things out," says Dauncey.

He and Darou both say the province should speed up the process by allowing tide-produced electricity into the province's power grid. They contend BC Hydro's mandate to buy the cheapest available power prevents the most energy-efficient forms from being used.

If tidal power were included in the grid, the impact on ratepayers would be minimal, says Dauncey. With Hydro's support, tidal-energy development could "literally take off."

"At the moment, we're just going on the willingness of companies to risk," he says.

Although EnCana might appear to be an unlikely partner, company spokesman Scott Ranson says his firm and Clean Current operate on "a similar paradigm.”

Both are looking for predictable, long-life resource plays that provide steady production.

"It really fits the (Environmental Innovation Fund's) criteria and stood out for us," says Ranson.

Since launching last year, EnCana's environmental fund has approved four of 80 applications. The company has allocated approximately $10 million per year to the fund, and the $3 million is the largest donation to date.

The fund has also helped bankroll two internal EnCana projects - a well-fracture waste water recycling demonstration project and a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) facility in the Alberta oilsands - and provided $1 million for a gas-electric hybrid vehicle project involving Calgary-based Azure Dynamics, the developer of the technology, and Canada Post, which is using the vehicles.

"So far, the projects that we've funded are very specific ... and this is an example of a very big-picture idea," says Ranson.

Race Rocks could spur future tidal- power projects worldwide, he says, because tides are so predictable and instruments can be designed and placed precisely.

Pearson College spokesman Dave Skilling says the tidal-turbine generator will replace two diesel generators that are currently used to power the college's "green" education centre at Race Rocks. The tidal turbine will generate 110,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, compared to the 70,000 kilowatt-hours now produced by the diesel generators.

The college will also no longer have to pay $18,000 annually in power costs.

"In general terms, it matches our philosophy for the college," says Skilling, adding the institution has a strong environmental aspect and is concerned about sustainability.

Skilling says students will research the tidal turbine as part of their environmental studies. The facility will also give students ideas that they can take back to their home countries for possible future developments overseas.

Other partners on the project include AMEC Americas Limited (project management), AMEC Dynamic Structures Ltd. (stabilization against tides) and Vancouver-based Triton Consultants Ltd. (tidal-resource modelling).

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)