Aecon Group and Lengkeek Vessel Engineering have won contracts worth CA$25m (£12.7m) as part of the first round of procurement for the Cape Sharp Tidal project.
The project aims to deliver one of the world’s first tidal arrays, with the deployment and grid connection of two 16-metre turbines in the Bay of Fundy, each capable of generating 2MW of electricity. Cape Sharp Tidal is seeking to use the initial demonstration array this year as the first phase of a commercial scale project in the Bay of Fundy, which subject to regulatory approvals, will see the development grow to an output of 300MW. Cape Sharp Tidal, a joint venture between Emera and OpenHydro.
Aecon has secured the contract for fabrication of turbine components. It will also develop a 1,150t-capacity barge for OpenHydro, which will be used to deploy turbines on to the seabed for the Cape Sharp Tidal project, as well as other future tidal array developments.
Lengkeek Vessel Engineering was awarded the contract for design of the barge.
OpenHydro chief executive James Ives said: “The manufacture of a dedicated deployment barge is a major capital investment for OpenHydro that will also support Cape Sharp Tidal as we progress towards larger commercial-scale tidal farms.”