Research Portal

Renewable Energy » Technology

The Pathway Program: Defining approved environmental monitoring for ocean energy projects

April 2019 – July 2021

The Pathway Program is a technology development and testing program focused on identifying approved environmental monitoring solutions for ocean energy projects.  It is a coordinated and focused partnership between industry, academia and regulators.  Monitoring and reporting fish and marine mamma

Geoscience » Source Rock & Depositional Environment

Microbial Genomics for De-Risking Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration in Nova Scotia

April 2016 – March 2021

The purpose of this $6.5M project is to develop, validate and deploy different genomics-based bioassay tools for offshore prospecting on the Scotian Slope.

Renewable Energy » Tidal Resource Characterization and Modelling

The Vectron2 Project: Turbulence Measurements for the In-stream Tidal Energy Industry

March 2019 – March 2021

The Vectron is a new sensor used for measuring turbulence velocity within a tidal turbine’s swept area.  The Vectron has been successfully prototyped, where next steps are to take the technology to the ‘industry-ready’ stage of development and the focus of this project.

Renewable Energy » Marine Life

Real-Time Detection of Marine Mammals in High Flow Environments

May 2019 – February 2021

The project research goal is to design and test an innovative acoustic sensor system that will feature a wireless magneto-inductive (MI) communications link – to alert users in real time of the presence and location of marine mammals in high noise tidal environments.  The research entails a field

Geoscience » Source Rock & Depositional Environment

Seismic Reconstruction and Petroleum Systems Modeling of the Nova Scotia-Morocco Conjugate Margin

April – December 2019

Seismic Reconstruction

The Seismic Reconstruction project is a stand-alone element of the Conjugate Margin Program undertaken by the consulting firm Beicip Franlab. A number of subprojects and data streams are inputs to this project.

Renewable Energy » Marine Life

Quantifying Fish-Turbine Interactions Using New VEMCO Tagging Technology

October 2017 – December 2019

This project tested innovative acoustic fish tagging technology made by VEMCO, a Nova Scotian engineering technology company. Their acoustic telemetry tags are expected to be more effective in noisy, high-current environments like the Minas Passage.

Renewable Energy » Marine Life

Integrating Hydro-acoustic Approaches to Predict Fish Interactions with In-Stream Tidal Turbines

October 2017 – December 2019

Understanding exactly how fish interact with tidal turbines is still a critical knowledge gap for the tidal energy sector.

Renewable Energy » Marine Life

Multipurpose X-Band Marine Radar Network for the Minas Passage

January – November 2019

Marine X-band radar locates vessels and features, including coastlines and buoys.  It filters distracting signals (eg.

Renewable Energy » Technology

Performance validation of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in a controlled environment

June 2018 – October 2019

In the past few years, the Nova Scotia tidal community has augmented its marine operational capacity, but some unknowns and risks still exist and the cost associated with such operations are high.

Renewable Energy » Technology

Developing Enhanced Marine Operations (DEMO) in High Flow Tidal Environments

October 2017 – October 2019

Conventional subsea remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) perform poorly in currents exceeding 1.5 m/s. This is a key operating limitation in the success and cost of marine operations in the Bay of Fundy, where current speeds reach 5 m/s.