EnCana rides energy wave offshore B.C.

EnCana is contributing C$3 million towards a tidal power project about 10 miles southwest of Victoria, offshore Vancouver Island.

The project will enable a marine park to tap ocean currents to convert tidal energy into electric power. The multi-year demonstration venture will involve the installation, operation and monitoring of a 65 kilowatt generator, giving EnCana a chance to show its desire to “tangibly encourage innovation energy solutions,” said Gwyn Morgan, chief executive officer of the big Canadian independent.

EnCana is teaming up with Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific and Clean Current Power Systems, a private British Columbia-based company that designs and licenses technology for creating electricity out of tidal currents.

Clean Current President Glen Darou said his firm believes the technology is “highly exportable, with strong potential to succeed in international settings.”

Any commercial proceeds from the project will be re-invested into EnCana’s Environmental Innovation Fund to advance new technologies and solutions that improve environmental performance associated with consuming and producing energy.

—Gary Park