Abstract
The Offshore Energy Research Association (OERA) has a mandate to enable sustainable development of Nova Scotia’s energy resources by facilitating and funding collaborative research and development. It has supported numerous tidal energy R&D projects over the years and is now leading the Pathway Program in collaboration with the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) with funding from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Mines (NSDEM) – a coordinated R&D program that will define, test and validate Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) solutions for the instream tidal energy industry that can meet regulatory requirements. The program will increase the understanding of impacts from instream tidal energy projects in the Bay of Fundy and improve the understanding of fish and marine mammal interaction with instream tidal energy devices. The program will also improve data processing and analyses, so that results can be reported to regulators and disseminated to the public in a timely manner.
The main objectives of the Program are to i) define a DFO-approved solution for the tidal energy industry, ii) apply machine learning to data analysis to reduce reporting time and compliance costs, iii) minimize initial capital costs to developers, iv) develop regional capability to manage, process, analyze and report EEM data, and v) develop intellectual property that regional companies can exploit commercially in multiple marine industries, both regionally and globally.
To conduct this program successfully, OERA and FORCE are assessing different types of monitoring technology that can gather adequate data to inform regulatory requirements. To complete this assessment effectively, OERA and FORCE are consulting with experts through several workshops to gather information on how the technology may be able to work effectively in high-flow environments to gather required monitoring data.
The second workshop under the Pathway Program was focused on “Data Automation & Data Management Options.” The Pathway Program contracted Marine Renewables Canada (MRC) to assist in leading workshop development, delivery and information-gathering. This summary report is the outcome of the workshop discussion and insights gathered during the workshop held on March 4, 2020.