Tidal power technology rolls into Haida Gwaii shores

A Haida Gwaiicompany has developed a technology that may one day provide powerto parts of HaidaGwaiiby harnessing the energy from tides.

Right now,the northern half ofHaidaGwaiiuses dieselto provide power to all homes and buildings.

It'san expensive power source and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

Clyde Greenough, business manager of Yourbrook Energy, saidhis company has developed agenerator that is powered solely by the ocean's tide.

The technology a pump storage systemharnesses thepowerful pull of the tide to turn the blades ofa pump that then pressurizes the water and sends it up an incline.

"So we pump high pressure water up a hill to a reservoir andto simplify thingsit comes back down the hill and into a turbine like a standard hydro project," Greenoughsaid.

He and three colleaguesall fromHaidaGwaiidesignedthe generator.

The goal is to getrid ofthe region's reliance on diesel altogetherand help the environment.

Rid reliance on diesel

"We want to get onto some kind of clean energy, there are other things out there, but we're part of the solution," said Greenough.

"Haida Gwaii is supposed to be pristine wilderness and we actually have probably one of the higher carbon footprints in Canada per capita," he noted.

Haida Gwaii is not connected to BC Hydro's electric grid, but the Crown corporation is responsible for providing power to the region through diesel generating systems.

A private hydroelectric plant provides power to the southern region.

For that reason, the community has been searching for alternative ways to power the archipelago, considering ideas like wind farms and wood waste.

The Haida Nation members strongly rejectedthe wind farm proposal over environmental concerns in 2011, vetoing the project, but the idea of tidal power seems to bemore popular.

BC Hydro in a bid to identify viable power projects sought ideas in2012.

Yourbrook Energy submitted one of26 proposals.

Their project has been funded in part by the National Research Council of Canada.

The field testing stage of the project will last three months.

Following successful tests, the company aimsto build a full scale demonstration of the technology.

With files from the CBC's Daybreak North.