EMO Marine Technologies, based in Eastern Passage, has been awarded contract to design and build the communication system that will bring data ashore over a fibre-optic cable.
This is a first for Nova Scotia’s tidal energy efforts.
"To harness the enormous power of the Bay of Fundy, we have to understand it," said Simon Melrose, the platform project manager for the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE).
"That’s why we’re building an underwater platform that will give us a clearer, moment-by-moment picture of the tidal currents at the FORCE site."
The platform will be connected from sea to shore by a 3km subsea data cable installed in 2013 and will record vital information on the tides, current flow and water quality.
The project utilizes the world’s smallest form factor multiplexer (MUX) system, EMO Marine Technologies’s Mini-T. The communication platform utilizes a fibre-optic MUX system that offers transmission of video, ethernet, and serial data channels over a fibre-optic link. The subsea unit is complimented with a 19in 1U Euro-rack enclosure at the surface (Survey) end of the telemetry system.
EMO Marine Technologies president Tom Knox said: "Being involved in this project for FORCE is a great way to prove the durability of our product."