They Bay of Fundy has the largest tidal range in the world. The development of new tidal energy technologies, together with the imperitives of climate change and energy security, has resulted in renewed and more urgent interest in harnessing tidal power. Nova Scotia has legislated Renewable Energy Standards that will require up to 500 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity to be added to the system by 2013 - a target that is unlikely to be reached through ongoing wind power development alone.

Because of the renewed interest in tidal energy, the Nova Scotia Department of Energy commissioned OEER to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to provide advice on whether, when and under what conditions tidal energy demonstration and commerical projects should be allowed in the Bay of Fundy. The SEA process, which took approximately one year, addressed all forms of marine renewable energy technology - offshore wind, wave, and various tidal energy approaches - but focussed on tidal in-stream energy conversion (TISEC) devices.