Failing Fundy tidal project leaves string of unpaid debts

A troubled tidal energy project in the Bay of Fundy has left a list of Maritime contractors unpaid, and an enormous, heavy lift barge under "arrest" at a berth in West Saint John.

The port of Saint John has been a service centre for the Minas Basin Tidal project headed by Ireland's OpenHydro Group Ltd.

But the company filed for liquidation in Julyjust two days after the turbine was turned on, when its French parent, Naval Energies, announced it was no longer funding tidal power projects.

The five-storey-tall turbine remains anchored on the seafloor and spinning with the tides but is not sending power to the Nova Scotia grid.

CBC has obtained seven statements of claim registered with either the Federal Court of Canada or the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia against the company's Canadian subsidiary, OpenHydro Technology Canada Ltd.

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• New attempt to harness Bay of Fundy tidal power

They detail a total of more than $2.6 million in unpaid debts for services ranging from stevedoring at the Port of SaintJohn to underwater diving work at theMinasBasin site where the turbine has been installed.

"We're on the list of creditors," said Port of Saint John communications director Paula Copeland. "We still have equipment of theirs here."

Copeland describes the equipment as being held "indistraint" in an enclosed area on port property. In its statement of claim port operator, DP World says it is owed $226,000 byOpenHydroTechnology Ltd, the company's Canadian subsidiary.

A large purpose-built steel cradle for holding the turbine when not in the water still sits on the Saint John waterfront at Long Wharf.

It is also being held against debts along with several unspecified pieces of equipment kept in a fenced enclosure on Port of Saint John property.

But DP Worldis not the only group holding OpenHydro assets.

Scotia Tide, the largest heavy-lift capacity barge in Atlantic Canada, was placed under "arrest" while at its berth in Saint John by RMI Marine of Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, a company that did diving and small vessel support work at the turbine site.

The catamaran-style barge was commissioned by Cape Sharp Tidal, the partnership created between OpenHydro Canada and Nova Scotia's Emera, and launched in December 2015 at the Pictou shipyard.

RMI alleges it is owed $444,000.

Sancton Access, a Saint John scaffolding company, has also made a claim on the Scotia Tide. Sancton alleges it is owed $133,000.

Jamac Painting and Sandblasting of Saint John has alleged in Nova Scotia Supreme Court it is owed $342,000.

BBC Chartering Carriers, the German-based owner of the ship BBC Emerald, claims it is owed $879,000 for delivering the turbine control centre from Greenore Port in Ireland to Saint John.

Two Nova Scotia companies, Seaforth Geosurveys and Huntley's Sub Aqua Construction have filed claims for $422,000 and $152,000 respectively.

The doors to OpenHydro' Group's Dublin offices remain open with a skeleton staff of about 15 people while an unusual legal challenge makes its way through Ireland's courts.

A small group of the company's shareholders is behind the 11th-hour bid to delay the liquidation of the company's assets and allow time tofind new investors.

The group includes founding members of OpenHydro, early believers in the viability of tidal energy who developed the turbine technology before selling most of the company to Naval Energies.

Altogether, they own 12 percent of the OpenHydro Group.

"They're very passionate about the technology," said Michael Murphy, the group's Dublin lawyer. "They believe it works and they are very keen that it will continue to be associated with Ireland and that we would maintain an operating base here."

On Tuesday, Ireland's Court of Appeal granted the group a reprieve until Oct. 4, when they will have to convince the court new investors have been found.