ALDERNEY’S tidal power plans have received a boost.

Irish engineering company OpenHydro, which has a 20% stake in Alderney Renewable Energy, recently installed the first commercial turbine in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.

The 1MW device was deployed earlier this month and is now rotating with the tides, collecting data and producing energy for Canadian energy suppliers Nova Scotia Power.

Once on site, the 400-tonne device was lowered within one hour to its intended location by a purpose-built barge. The turbine now rests on the seabed, secured in place by a sub-sea gravity base. It will be monitored intensely in the coming weeks as OpenHydro seeks to prove the technology is viable.

Depending on the success of the turbine, similar devices are due to be installed in Alderney waters after ARE signed a deal to supply 285MW of electricity to French company RTE via the Cotentin grid.

ARE director Stuart Trought (pictured) said: ‘This is good news for the Alderney project as it is bringing the whole industry forward.

‘The turbines used in Canada won’t necessarily be the same ones we use here as every tidal stream is different. Our devices may need to be modified slightly but to the layman they will be the same as the Canadian ones.’

Mr Trought would not say exactly when Alderney would get its first turbine.