The Community & Business Toolkit for Tidal Energy Development

In June 2011, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) announced Community Feed-In Tariffs (COMFIT) for various renewable energy developments, including small-scale tidal energy. This innovative government policy gives communities/developers a long-term, guaranteed price for electricity generated from renewable resources. UARB also released developmental tidal feed-in tariff rates for large scale projects in November, 2013.

There were many questions around how communities and businesses in Nova Scotia can benefit from tidal energy development. To address some of these questions the Acadia Tidal Energy Institute, with support from municipal, provincial and federal partners, has developed the Community and Business Toolkit for Tidal Energy Development. The Toolkit assist communities and businesses in better understanding the opportunities stemming from tidal energy while encouraging responsible harvesting of tidal energy resources.

An addendum to the toolkit, a Tidal Energy Community Engagement Handbook, was produced as a step-by-step guide to community engagement for usage by all stakeholders involved in tidal power development.

The Community and Business Toolkit for Tidal Energy Development contains a series of modules that describe opportunities and strategies for communities and businesses to become involved in tidal energy development. The modules also provide relevant advice, checklists and links.

Individual modules can be downloaded from the links below.

It is recommended that all files be downloaded for viewing rather than viewed in the web browser as some elements may not display properly in all versions of Adobe Reader - several files are large so it may take a few minutes to download.

Community and Business Toolkit for Tidal Energy Development - High Resolution (31 MB)

Community and Business Toolkit for Tidal Energy Development - Low Resolution (11 MB)

Individual Modules

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Module 1: Overview of Tidal Energy
• Module 2: Measuring and Assessing the Tidal Resource
• Module 3: Tidal Power Extraction Devices
• Module 4: The Regulatory Regime for Tidal Energy
• Module 5: Environmental Risk Assessment
• Module 6: Stakeholder and Community Engagement
• Module 7: Financial Evaluation and Cost of Energy
• Module 8: Opportunities and Strategies for Communities
• Module 9: Opportunities and Strategies for Businesses
• Module 10: Financing, Government Supports, and Managing Risk
• Module 11: Assessing the Potential Economic Impacts of a Five Megawatt Tidal Energy Development in the Digby Area of the Bay of Fundy
• Appendices

For further information please contact us.