Marine Current Turbines Installs Tidal Energy Turbines on Vancouver Island

British Columbia, Canada [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Marine Current Turbine (MCT) and BC Tidal Energy Corporation have signed an agreement to install at least three 1.2 Megawatt (MW) SeaGen tidal energy turbines in Vancouver Island's Campbell River by 2009. The agreement is the first step in a plan to develop larger tidal farms off British Columbia's coast, which the company says have a tidal energy potential of up to 4,000 MW.

The announcement comes at the heels of Marine Current's agreement to develop a tidal power project in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy, located on Canada's eastern seaboard.

"Working with our Canadian partners, MCT is in a very strong position to deploy its pioneering clean electricity generation technology on both sides of Canada. SeaGen is the first and only commercial scale tidal device ready for deployment anywhere in the world," said Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines

Campbell River Mayor Roger McDonell added, "We have the resource at our doorstep. We have a mature and capable ocean industry and scientific community in British Columbia. The economic opportunity is still wide open in this exciting new energy sector. It means new jobs and green power that is as reliable and predictable as the tides."