Nova Scotia Power Inc. will pull its 400-tonne underwater turbine from the Bay of Fundy to fix a communication problem that has plagued the tidal experiment, utility president Rob Bennett said Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, the underwater modem device is a relatively new addition to the project and that device is not working properly," he told about 150 shareholders at the utility’s annual meeting.
Bennett’s response came after a shareholder asked if communication with the turbine, which was lost a week after it was deployed, had been restored.
The utility, along with its Irish partner, OpenHydro, installed the doughnut-shaped turbine in the Bay of Fundy’s Minas Passage last fall. It was the first commercial-scale tidal turbine to be placed in the bay.
Attached to it were wireless sensors that were designed to transmit critical data on electrical production and environmental impact from under the water.
"Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked out," Bennett told reporters.
A date for when a specialized barge and crane will lift it out of the water has not been set, he said.
The murky waters and strong current in the Bay of Fundy prevent divers from doing the repair work under the water.
The turbine, which is not yet connected to the power grid, was just one example of Nova Scotia Power’s push towards using more renewable energy; a move it is making in part because the provincial government is demanding the utility generate 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
In addition, the company has bought all or part of three Nova Scotia wind projects during the past year. The firm is also seeking regulatory approval to spend $200-million on a biomass project with its largest customer NewPage Port Hawkesbury in Cape Breton.
"Adding more renewable energy is important to Nova Scotia Power’s customers and this change is necessary to help stabilize prices against volatile foreign fossil fuels. Coal is tracking for increases of five to eight per cent per year," said Emera Inc. president Chris Huskilson.
This week Emera, owners of Nova Scotia Power, reported record first quarter profits of $77.1 million for the first three months of 2010, with the main driver being the electrical utility with contributions of $63.3 million.
Huskilson said this transition from coal-burning power plants to renewable energy sources "is driving the largest capital program in Nova Scotia Power’s history."
The company expects to invest $600 million in Nova Scotia Power this year, he said.
Emera has also been on a spending spree lately, buying utilities in the Caribbean and other acquisitions in New Brunswick and the U.S.
During the past five years Emera’s "financial dependence" on Nova Scotia Power has decreased from 76 per cent in 2005 to 63 per cent last year, Huskilson said.
To fund these investments Emera will be going to the stock market to raise the necessary capital, Nancy Tower, Emera and Nova Scotia Power’s chief financial officer, said Wednesday.
"We’ve been doing a lot of acquisitions and doing it with debt," Tower said after the meeting. The company is looking at issuing more shares later this year or in 2011, she said.
The last time Emera made a share offering was in 2003.
Emera shares were trading up 19 cents Wednesday afternoon at $24.30 a share on the Toronto stock exchange.
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