Atlantic Towing Limited of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia has secured a contract
to provide marine tug and barge services to the Cape Sharp Tidal
project. Cape Sharp Tidal is a multi-phase project with plans to
grid-connect a 4MW demonstration tidal array in Nova Scotia’s Bay of
Fundy in the coming months.
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The project could be the first of its kind in the world, helping
establish a tidal industry in the Province of Nova Scotia. The project
and its partners have committed to investing 70 per cent of the first
phase investment spend locally to develop economic tidal capacity. Cape
Sharp Tidal is working toward deploying 300MW of clean, safe, renewable
power to Nova Scotians in the next decade.
The Atlantic Towing contract is the latest of several contract awards by
Cape Sharp Tidal, with more than $33 million invested in Nova Scotia
to-date. The agreement details specialized marine services including
harbour and terminal towage, ocean and coastal towage, barging services,
offshore support such as anchor installation and more. These services,
as scheduled, will employ up to 28 seafarers currently working for
Atlantic Towing.
“Local economic opportunities like the Atlantic Towing contract reflect
our vision to build a local tidal industry, strengthen our communities
and keep jobs in our province,” said Chris Huskilson, President and CEO
of Emera Inc. “Teaming up with local companies that have the expertise
to safely get the job done is key to our success.”
Highly trained and specialized crews on three Atlantic Towing tugs—the
Hemlock, the Bear and the Spruce— as well as the Beaver Barge, will
support the project in the strong Bay of Fundy ocean currents. In
addition to anchor and cable installation, the tugs will transport both
1,000-tonne turbines on their journey from Pictou to the Minas Passage
on a purpose-built OpenHydro barge, The Scotia Tide.
Once in position, the tugs will manoeuvre the barge and turbine while
crews lower the turbine to the seabed and connect the cables to the Nova
Scotia power grid. The subsea cables, on-shore transmission lines and
power infrastructure belong to the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for
Energy (FORCE) in Parrsboro.
“We’re pleased to be working with the skilled crew of Atlantic Towing on
the marine operations for Cape Sharp Tidal,” said James Ives,
OpenHydro’s Chief Executive. “The company shares our commitment to
safety and offers real-life experience in the Bay of Fundy that will
help us achieve this ground-breaking project.”
“We have safely operated in challenging sea conditions like the strong
Bay of Fundy currents and tides for more than 50 years,” said Gilles
Gagnon, Atlantic Towing Vice President and General Manager. “Working on
the Cape Sharp Tidal project is a perfect fit for our local team’s
expertise and capability.”
Other Nova Scotia companies have come on board to provide service and
expertise to the Cape Sharp Tidal project. In May, a $25-million
contract was awarded to Aecon Group Inc. and Lengkeek Vessel
Engineering. Two hundred and fifty Aecon employees are currently
building and assembling the turbine components and barge in its
facilities in Dartmouth and Pictou while Lengkeek, based in Dartmouth,
earned the contract for barge design. And in July, it was announced that
Chester-based Hawboldt Industries was awarded a $4.6-million contract to
design and manufacture three heavy lift winches for the barge.
Atlantic Towing is a member of the Transportation and Logistics division
of J.D. Irving, Limited, which provides a comprehensive range of road,
rail, marine and logistics services to the global market. Atlantic
Towing has been a leader in marine services for more than 50 years,
bringing successful marine transportation solutions to customers around
the world. With offices on the East Coast of Canada and operating
locations extending from the Arctic to Trinidad and Tobago, Atlantic
Towing has delivered reliable marine services through the use of modern
equipment, operated and maintained by a highly skilled workforce.
About Cape Sharp Tidal Venture
Cape Sharp Tidal is a joint venture between Emera Inc. and OpenHydro, a
DCNS company, with the objective of deploying a fully grid connected 4MW
tidal array in the Bay of Fundy in 2015. This project has the potential
to be one of the world’s first multi-megawatt arrays of interconnected
tidal turbines, providing energy to over 1,000 customers in Nova Scotia.
More information about the project can be found online at capesharptidal.com
.
About Atlantic Towing Limited
Atlantic Towing Limited is part of the J.D. Irving group of companies
and operates the largest working fleet of offshore supply vessels in
Canada. J.D. Irving, Limited has been doing business in Nova Scotia for
over 60 years and today. Today, the organization directly employs almost
2,000 Nova Scotians in diverse operations that include shipbuilding,
retail, construction, forestry and forest products as well as offshore
marine services.
About OpenHydro
OpenHydro is a DCNS company specialising in the design, manufacture and
installation of marine turbines generating renewable energy from tidal
streams. The company’s vision is to deploy turbine arrays under the
surface of the oceans to produce energy silently, invisibly and with no
impact on the environment. OpenHydro has achieved a number of industry
firsts including being the first to deploy a tidal turbine at the
European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), the first to connect to and
generate electricity from tidal streams onto the UK National Grid and
the first to successfully demonstrate a method of safely and
economically deploying and recovering turbines directly on the seabed.
The deployment and recovery method delivers a step change in the
economics of tidal energy.
OpenHydro has a project portfolio spanning Canada, France, Northern
Ireland, Scotland and the Channel Islands with utility partners
including Emera, EDF, Brookfield Renewable Energy Group, SSE Renewables
and Alderney Renewable Energy. OpenHydro has won a number of awards for
its innovations in the field of renewable energy technology.
About Emera
Emera Inc. is geographically diverse energy and services company
headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia with $10.19 billion in assets and
2014 revenues of $2.97 billion. The company invests in electricity
generation, transmission and distribution, as well as gas transmission
and utility energy services. Emera's strategy is focused on the
transformation of the electricity industry to cleaner generation and the
delivery of that clean energy to market. Emera has investments
throughout northeastern North America, and in four Caribbean
countries. Emera continues to target having 75-85% of its adjusted
earnings come from rate-regulated businesses. Emera common and preferred
shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade under the
symbols EMA, EMA.PR.A, EMA.PR.C, EMA.PR.E, and EMA.PR.F. Additional
Information can be accessed at emera.com
or at sedar.com
.
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