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Topic spans: 1952 - 2002
Hydroelectricity: The Power of Water
From rushing rivers deep in Canada's wilderness comes the electricity that keeps our cities humming. As a renewable, emissions-free source of energy, hydroelectricity is "green," but flooding from hydroelectric dams has sometimes devastated traditional aboriginal livelihoods. Ranging from a single tidal turbine to Niagara Falls to a dam carved from a mountain, Canada's hydro projects provide 60 per cent of this country's power.
Photo of Sir Adam Beck Generating Station #1 from Origins of Niagara.
15 television clips
4 radio clips
Harnessing the tides
Broadcast Date: May 5, 1984
Why should hydroelectric projects be restricted to rivers? With the highest tides in the world, the Bay of Fundy has an impressive water flow of its own. Near the Nova Scotia town of Annapolis Royal, a single turbine will test the theory that, like rivers, tides can generate electricity. But even if it works, a CBC reporter notes, finding a buyer for tidal power may be a hard sell.Harnessing the tides
• The Annapolis Tidal Generating Station, owned by Nova Scotia Power, is still operating in 2005.• The station's capacity is 20 megawatts, enough for 7,000 homes. According to Nova Scotia Power, it generates 30 million kilowatt hours yearly, or enough for about 4,000 homes.
• As this clip mentions, the generating station was built to showcase the potential for a much larger tidal project involving 128 turbines in Nova Scotia's Minas Basin to the east.
• Nova Scotia Power says the Minas Basin project has not proceeded due to environmental and economic concerns.
• In 2001 Maclean's called the Annapolis experiment "a disaster" that "minced fish, silted up the river and never produced power reliably."
• In 2005 a B.C. company called Clean Current tested a tidal power project at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve on Vancouver Island.
• Using the tides for power dates back to the 18th century, when mills in coastal regions were powered by the tides (rather than the wind or waterwheels in other areas). With the advent of cheap steam power, tidal mills were no longer practical.
• The world's largest tidal power station is the La Rance station in northern France, which generates 240 megawatts of electricity. It was completed in 1966.
• There are smaller tidal power projects in Norway, the Soviet Union and China.
Harnessing the tides
Medium: Television
Program: Saturday Report
Broadcast Date: May 5, 1984
Guest(s): Dan Brown, John Buchanan, Garry Rice
Host: George McLean
Reporter: Melvin McLeod
Duration: 4:41
Last updated:
Jan. 28, 2011
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19 clips in this topic . page
Radio
10:29
Nov. 9, 1965
The largest power blackout to that point in history leaves 30 million people in darkness.
Topic
In 1971 northern Quebec became a political battleground as the provincial government and the James Bay Cree faced off over a hydroelectric mega-project. Quebec sees the James Bay Project as the key to future...
Harnessing the tides.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Jan. 28, 2011.
[Page consulted on Feb. 16, 2012.]