Nova Scotia extends commercial tidal stream pipeline in Bay of Fundy
Nova Scotia recently awarded Eauclaire Tidal and Orbital Marine Power an additional 12 megawatts of tidal stream energy licenses as part of its 2025 procurement, marking one of the most significant marine energy allocations announced recently. The award includes two 15 year power purchase contracts as well as seabed rights and grid connection access at Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy site in Minas Passage which boasts world-renowned high resource tidal channels.
Partners plan to install six Orbital O2 X tidal turbines at the FORCE facility, with each expected to deliver approximately 180 gigawatt hours of predictable, zero emission electricity over their life spans. For Orbital Marine Power, this project represents its largest project outside the UK; placing Nova Scotia as an international hub for commercial scale tidal stream deployment while helping support Nova Scotia's plan to reduce coal-fired generation and decarbonise its power mix.
Eauclaire Tidal and Orbital Marine Power have stressed the significance of the new licenses as being key components in realizing their scalable industrial vision in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, in partnership with provincial authorities, First Nation partners and local supply chains. Company leaders stressed the potential to create permanent employment in Nova Scotia through this tidal build out process, reflecting growing investor trust that tidal stream can offer bankable, grid connected generation at meaningful scale in coastal environments.
PNNL Strengthens Marine Energy Research and Data Infrastructure
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's work in consolidating the United States marine energy research ecosystem over recent weeks was remarkable, overseeing multiple knowledge platforms and applied research programs pertaining to wave, tidal, current, ocean thermal resources such as waves, tides, currents and thermal resources. They lead development of Tethys and Tethys Engineering collaborative virtual spaces which aggregate environmental and technical data relating to renewable marine energy projects while being core partners in creating the Portal and Repository for Information on Marine Renewable Energy--a centralised database which consolidates research outputs in marine energy research outputs--an impressive accomplishment indeed!
These platforms are intended to reduce development cycles and project risks by providing technology developers, regulators and investors with structured access to environmental monitoring results, device performance data and lessons from early deployments. PNNL conducts this work for the US Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office as well as agencies such as Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that are shaping marine energy siting and permitting frameworks.
Recent staff appointments and program milestones at PNNL demonstrate its expanding role as an intermediary between public and private stakeholders on marine energy questions, from colocation with other ocean uses to resilience applications in remote or islanded grids. PNNL's research focus is becoming more crucial as coastal communities explore diversified portfolios incorporating marine energy resources alongside offshore wind power and storage technology.
NREL advances wave energy survivability evaluation using the SEA Stack platform.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently reported progress with SEA Stack, a new wave energy technology development capability designed to assist developers. According to NREL, this tool allows companies to vet designs quickly by running performance and survivability evaluations against different wave climates and operating scenarios.
SEA Stack's goal is to reduce technical uncertainty while expediting prototype testing processes by decreasing costs and time requirements for early stage engineering assessments. It fits within a wider effort from research organisations to standardise modeling, simulation, and data analysis frameworks across wave/current energy converter classes for improved comparability as well as investor due diligence processes.
NREL's work on SEA Stack complements other US national laboratory efforts that focus on grid integration, controls optimization and hybridisation of marine energy converters with storage or other renewable sources. Together these initiatives aim to accelerate the transition from tank testing and concept demonstration to open water pilot projects and eventually commercial scale arrays in coastal regions suitable for marine energy conversion systems.
International collaborations and forums help keep marine energy front of mind.
Marine energy was also featured at recent industry and research events, including the Offshore Energy Exhibition and Conference held in Amsterdam late November. At this gathering developers, utilities, supply chain firms and research institutions discussed how ocean-based renewables like wave and tidal streams fit within larger offshore portfolios dominated by wind power or oil and gas infrastructure.
At the same time, multistakeholder initiatives such as the Marine Energy Taskforce embarked on their second phase, reflecting an ongoing effort to coordinate technical standards, environmental assessments, and market development strategies across jurisdictions. Such taskforces provide venues for aligning technology roadmaps with port infrastructure planning, subsea cable deployment plans and regional industrial policies that support clustering effects for component manufacturing as well as O&M services.
Taken as a whole, November developments demonstrate a marine energy sector moving from isolated demonstration projects towards structured pipelines and shared knowledge systems. Nova Scotia's new tidal stream capacity, enhanced data resources from PNNL, and NREL survivability tools all point toward an industry that is maturing as technologies are de-risked for integration into long-term coastal decarbonisation strategies.