Water Current Turbines for River Applications - Alaska Energy ...

WCT EvaluationNRCan-06-010716.3 Canadian Government SupportThe following sections deal with key areas that the federal and provincial governments may consider inorder to promote the development of NRT.6.3.1 FundingEncourage and fund new commercial hydrokinetic power projects by establishing low cost renewableenergy debt financing instruments/grants that include hydrokinetic power generation as a qualifiedgeneration source to be used to fund construction of hydrokinetic projects.To encourage the deployment of renewable, secure, locally distributed hydrokinetic power generation asa qualif ying source, implement appropriate incentives to accelerate energy deployment in the followingtypes of programs at the federal and provincial level:• Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)• Renewable Energy Credits (REC)• Net Metering Programs• Feed-in Tariff6.3.2 ResearchSupport research, development and deployment projects to collect information on the technicalperformance and environmental impacts of hydrokinetic power systems. This should be done on aprovincial and regional policy basis.Provide financial support for development of emerging water technologies with federal and provincialresearch and development programs. Such programs are extremely important in helping developersassume the risk of demonstration projects to test new technologies.Develop joint federal and provincial program to update the work done on river assessments in 1980 andto develop uniform assessment of river, tidal and ocean current that is publicly available to developersand planners to coordinate optimal use of resources balanced with environmental concerns.6.3.3 PermittingClarify permitting programs to encourage demonstration projects by making a distinction between ther equirements for demonstration projects and long term commercial development. This would speed theprocess to put demonstration projects in the water to gather performance and environmental information.Information gathered from these demonstrations could serve as the basis for conditions for licensing offull scale commercial operations.Develop collaborative permitting programs at the provincial and regional level that coordinaterequirements from all of the jurisdictional agencies, including federal, to avoid duplicative processes andreduce the time and cost to deploy demonstration and ultimately commercial projects.6. 3.4 RegulationsEnsure that developmentrights are allocated through a transparent process that takes into accountprovincial, local, and public concernsVerdant Power Canada ULC 41