Sustainability

The world is facing a climate crisis.

Evidence shows that rising global temperatures are contributing to more frequent extreme weather events around the world – the last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record.
At COP26 in 2021, nearly 200 countries signed the Glasgow Climate Pact to reduce the average global temperature by 1.5C and urgently combat climate change. Developing additional sources of renewable energy is essential to help us achieve this.
Nova Innovation’s tidal turbine technology harnesses the powerful energy of our tides to provide a clean, reliable solution for our energy needs.

Landscape

Nova Innovation’s turbines are situated on the seabed and completely submerged beneath the sea. This means that there is no visual impact, making Nova Innovation unique among renewable energy providers.

Our tidal turbines are fully submerged which means that they do not affect the safe navigation of vessels. With at least 15m clearance and no need for surface markers, boats and other vessels can move freely past our turbines with no cause for concern.

Marine wildlife

Prior to the installation of any turbines, Nova Innovation has been closely monitoring marine life at the installation site. In 2022 a Remote Observation Platform was installed that uses high-definition subsea cameras and sonar to monitor the presence and behaviour of fish, diving birds and marine mammals around the turbine site.

This builds on Nova Innovation's experience monitoring the environmental effects of turbines in the Shetland Tidal Array at Bluemull Sound, between the islands of Yell and Unst, since they were first installed in 2016. This long-term monitoring programme has created one of the best data sets on the environmental effects of tidal turbines anywhere in the world.

Rigorous analysis of the data gathered has demonstrated that our turbines work in complete harmony with marine wildlife and result in no negative impacts on marine habitats and species. These efforts will be duplicated in Petit Passage to safeguard marine species.

Environmental stewardship

Nova Innovation is committed to environmental best practice in all aspects of the business.

To make sure we deliver on this commitment, environmental specialists and marine biologists work alongside our highly skilled engineering teams to make sure that sustainability is at the core of everything we do.

We have an exceptional environmental track record which has demonstrated that our turbines work in complete harmony with marine wildlife and have no negative impact.