Officials tell a legislative committee the tidal wave industry is being held back by regulatory hurdles

A group representing tidal energy developers told a legislative committee Tuesday that industry efforts to harness the power of the Bay of Fundy are being hampered by regulatory roadblocks.

Elisa Obermann, executive director of Marine Renewables Canada, told members of the standing committee on natural resources and economic development that companies need “investment certainty, regulatory certainty and a strong signal and commitment from governments to engage with industry.”

Her organization represents 180 companies.

The former CEO of one of these companies, Jason Hayman, put it more bluntly.

“We have spent a lot of money, time and effort not only proving the feasibility of this technology, but also working on any potential impacts on marine wildlife and the environment,” the former sustainable marine energy chief said via video link from Germany.

He blamed the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) for the company’s collapse.

“The lack of coordination between regulators at the regional and federal levels and the lack of technically competent leadership resulted in our inability to deliver what we promised to our investors,” he said.

“I can only describe what happened as an act of economic vandalism.”

This is not the first time he has criticized DFO. A DFO spokesman said at the time that Sustainable Marine had not provided sufficient information about its project.

“Regulatory Purgatory”

Hayman told the committee that DFO’s stringent requirements and permitting delays created a “regulatory purgatory” for those who wanted to test their power-generating facilities in the Bay of Fundy.

He described the department’s approach to protecting fish and the marine environment near the test site created by the Nova Scotia government in 2009 as unachievable.

He said DFO apparently wanted the companies to “take the name and address of each fish and have them log in while (swimming) next to the turbine.”

Elise Obermann (left) of Marine Renewables Canada and Lindsay Bennett of the Fundy Ocean Energy Research Center speak before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development. (Jean Laroche/CBC)

A DFO report from the Bay of Fundy Tidal Energy Sustainability Task Force says it recognizes the challenges facing tidal energy developers. It says it is working to reduce regulatory decision-making times and clarify fish protection requirements.

“The Task Force recognizes that as a relatively new renewable energy sector, there is a dynamic tension between tidal energy developers’ need for transparency regarding DFO’s regulatory requirements and DFO’s need for flexibility to respond to lessons learned,” the report said.

More funding is needed from governments, says speaker

Lindsay Bennett, who heads the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE), made a similar argument to Hayman, but made it more diplomatically.

She said ocean scientists and technologists at FORCE conducted more than $20 million in research to create the baseline data.

“At this point, we really need devices deployed so we can study them in the environment,” Bennett said. “It is crucial that DFO engages with the sector so that we can clarify the way forward.”

She also suggested that her organization would need more funding from the federal and provincial governments.

“The research required to make progress in the tidal sector in Nova Scotia, the level of stakeholder engagement, all the work supported by the FORCE team, there are costs involved,” Bennett told reporters after the meeting.

“It’s expensive work. “We are in constant conversations with the provincial government and the federal government, who know what our financial situation is and what our needs are.”

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