Marine Energy

British Columbia is blessed with numerous sites along its coast where the power of tidal currents could be generating renewable electricity, places like Johnstone Strait adjacent to Campbell River where twice a day the tidal flow peaks at 11 - 14 knots over almost 100 km. And the existing electricity grid is within site on land. Johnstone Strait was identified in a BC Hyrdo report completed by Triton Consultants in 2002 as BC's prime site for tidal current energy potential (energy to be produced by converting the kinetic energy of moving tidal currents into electrical energy*). The report basically branded the site as BC's Niagara Falls or Hoover dam. Or to use a different energy source, the area was akin to BC's Saudi Arabia or Leduc oil basin.  Combined with other potential tidal energy 'resource' sites on the coast, Triton reported in its executive summary that "up to 40% of BC's generating capacity" could be met by tidal current energy with the technology of the day.

So what has happened to propel BC's nascent tidal energy development since the release of the 2002 report? Unfortunately, very, very little, though that doesn't accurately describe the efforts of many people, including myself, to help seed this energy technology.