Canada's Bay of Fundy, a place of immense natural power, has long been a graveyard for tidal turbines. The region's extreme tides, reaching up to 5 meters per second, have proven too much for many machines, which have either shattered, failed, or simply vanished. But now, a new era of tidal energy is on the horizon, and it's all thanks to a floating, towable turbine design that could revolutionize the industry. This innovative approach, developed by Orbital Marine Power, offers a glimmer of hope for harnessing the Bay of Fundy's untapped potential.
A Tidal Graveyard
The Bay of Fundy, with its narrow Minas Passage, is a challenging environment for tidal energy. The passage, just 5 kilometers wide and 150 meters deep, experiences some of the fastest tides on Earth. At their peak, these tides can carry more water than all the world's rivers combined, pushing through at an astonishing 5 meters per second. It's a place where mistakes are costly, and machines have learned this the hard way. The Irish company OpenHydro, for instance, attempted to establish a presence in the Bay of Fundy, but their turbines were quickly destroyed by the relentless currents.
The Floating Solution
Orbital Marine Power's Orbital O2 is a marvel of engineering, designed to withstand the Bay of Fundy's harsh conditions. What sets it apart is its floating, towable design. Instead of anchoring heavy structures to the seabed, the O2 can be towed back to a harbor when conditions turn unfavorable. This innovative approach allows the turbine to leave when the going gets tough, a feature that could be the key to its long-term success.
The O2 is a 74-meter floating steel structure, weighing approximately 680 tons, with two retractable legs that lower a pair of 1-megawatt turbines into the tidal flow. It's a powerful machine, capable of covering the annual electricity demand of around 2,000 UK homes and offsetting about 2,200 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Some of its output even goes to an onshore electrolyzer, making green hydrogen, a useful trick for a machine that is, at its core, a reliable generator.
The Next Generation
Orbital is not stopping there. They are now developing the O2-X, a next-generation turbine rated at about 2.4 MW per unit, with six of them expected to go into the water in Orkney between 2026 and 2028. This project is backed by two rounds of UK Contracts for Difference, ensuring a steady market for their technology. The O2-X is an ambitious upgrade, with blades stretching from 10 meters to 13 meters, making them the longest tidal blades in the world. This increase in rotor swept area by about 70% is a significant leap in technology, promising cheaper and more efficient turbines.
The Bay of Fundy's Approval
The Bay of Fundy has given its nod to Orbital's floating turbines. In November 2025, Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued an authorization allowing up to three floating O2-X turbines at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE), the research operation that manages the berths in the Minas Passage. This is the first project to move ahead under Canada's revised, staged approach to tidal permitting, which allows developers to start with a single device and add more as environmental monitoring progresses. The province of Nova Scotia has approved the Eauclaire and Orbital partnership for up to 16.5 MW in total, enough to support a planned six O2-X machines across the site.
The Clock is Ticking
Lindsay Bennett, executive director of FORCE, expressed optimism about the site's renewed vigor since 2024, when the streamlined process approved its first turbines since 2018. Under the license terms, Orbital must get a turbine in the water by December 2030 to secure its 15-year power contract with Nova Scotia Power. This deadline adds a sense of urgency to the project, as the clock ticks towards a pivotal moment for tidal energy in the Bay of Fundy.
The Cost of Tidal Energy
Tidal energy, despite its promise, is still expensive. In the UK's most recent Contracts for Difference auction in 2024, tidal stream projects were contracted at £172 per megawatt-hour, around $225. This was the lowest price the sector had ever cleared, but it was still roughly three times the £58.87 locked in by fixed offshore wind during the same auction. The predictability of tidal energy, where tides run on a schedule written by the Moon, is a significant advantage over wind and solar, which are dependent on the weather. However, the question remains whether this predictability is worth the higher cost.
The Future of Tidal Energy
Orbital now has the permits, a December 2030 deadline, and a seabed full of cautionary tales to study. The Bay of Fundy, with its highest tides on the planet and a long history of humbling machines, presents a formidable challenge. The floating design is the smartest answer anyone has brought to this problem, but it still has to prove itself in five-meter-per-second water. Being able to leave might finally turn out to be the thing that lets a turbine stay, marking a significant step forward in the quest for harnessing the power of the tides.
