Bay of Fundy tidal power turbine passes first environmental test

The tidal power turbine on the floor of the Minas Passage has passed a first environmental test.

Sensors needed to help gauge impact on marine life are functioning, although what conclusions can be drawn from the data is already subject of debate.

Proponents had to submit a report on the status of all monitoring devices one month after the 1,000-tonne turbine was lowered to the bottom on Nov. 7.

Nova Scotia Environment Minister Margaret Miller whose department is lead regulator says the deadline was met this week by owner Cape Sharp Tidal Ventures and the non-profit Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE), which is managing the test site in the Minas Passage.

"Staff is going over that report right now and will report the results back to the proponents," Miller told CBC News.

Sensors

The report puts into writing what Cape Sharp and FORCE have told the province and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the month since deployment that monitoring devices are working.

That in itself is a milestone, given what happened when the first tidal turbine was installed in theMinasPassage in 2009. Onboard sensors went dark within a week. It was confirmed months later the blades had been destroyed by the powerful tides.

Sensors have been installed as part of an environmental effects monitoring program created to measure the turbine's impact on marine life.

Up to 10turbines may be installed in the Minas Passage in coming years to test the technology and its environmental impacts.

They include underwater microphones and sonar. Some are attached to the turbine and are sending data back to shore via a subsea cable that also carries the two megawatts of electricity generated by blades, which are supposed to turn at between six and eight revolutions per minute.

Information is also being collected from moored devicesand by a vessel taking other readings.

'No impact'claim made

Two weeks after the Nov.7 turbine deployment, Thierry Kalanquin, an executive with one of the partners in Cape Sharp Tidal Ventures, pronounced it an environmental success.

"We have absolutely no environmental impact. Zero," Kalanquin said during remarks at a ceremonial "flip" of the switch marking the arrival of electricity from the turbine to the North American grid.

Kalanquin was asked by CBC News for the basis of the claimlater that day.

"We have a lot of sensors and we are following a lotof what is happening here in this building," he said, referring to the substation outside Parrsboro.

"We can say there is no fish going through the turbine right now. We can say no mammals are going through the turbine now and there is no damage to the environment. Of course we need time to prove this."

'No impact'claim challenged

Kalanquin's claim is not one Nova Scotia's environment minister is prepared to make.

"Not at this point. We haven't seen any of the results of any of the tests yet," Miller said.

A DFO official was similarly cautious Friday, noting the department has not yet received data from the monitoring devices.

Kalanquin's claim angered Bay of Fundy fisherman Darren Porter, who said it was made before the data had been analyzed.

"If you haven't analyzed the data, how can you make that claim," Porter said.

"It was absolutely a false statement. It destroyed confidence. It sent the fishery up in arms, not just the fishery but the First Nation and scientific community, too."

Proponents respond

A spokesman for the Fundy Research Centre has also backed away from Kalanquin'sclaim.

"In our view, it's premature to make claims regarding any monitoring outcomes at the FORCE site," spokesmanMatt Lumley said in an email statement.

Sarah Dawson of Cape Sharp Tidal said all data will be analyzed and interpreted by third-party experts, and reports will be released quarterly to regulators and stakeholders.

Environmentalists weigh in

Susanna Fuller of the EcologyAction Centre in Halifax also said any claim of no environmental impact is premature.

"I don't think one can make any claim about whether or not it's had an impact until at least, at the very least there's been a full year," she said. "So you get the seasonality of the migratory pattern ofthe fish and whales species that use that area."

Sarah Saunders of the World Wildlife Fund said in-stream tidal technology is relatively new.

"Similar turbines used elsewhere in the world have shown minimal impacts on the environment," Saunders said in a statement CBC News.

DFO seeks robust monitoring

In the meantime, another deadline looms.

To address previous concerns raised by DFO, Cape Sharp and FORCE have to submit a new, more comprehensiveenvironmental effects monitoring program by Jan.1.

It requires more tagging of fish, additional studies to detect changes in lobster movement around the turbine or cables, and expanded use of acoustic and sonar monitoring.