Emilie de Rosenroll
VICTORIA – The Province has announced that seven projects have received a total of $7 million from the Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, two of which will support the ocean-based economy.
Victoria-based Open Ocean Robotics received $1.75 million to develop solar-powered, uncrewed surface vehicles with sensors, cameras and communication devices that can capture information from anywhere on the ocean and relay it to researchers instantly. Its solar-powered robot surface vehicles can travel non-stop for months without producing any greenhouse gas emissions, noise pollution or risk of oil spills.
“We are honoured to receive this support from the Innovative Clean Energy Fund to advance our technology and scale our ability to serve British Columbia’s growing blue economy. Our solar-powered boats, also known as uncrewed surface vehicles, collect and analyze real-time ocean data for environmental monitoring, illegal fishing enforcement and security. Zero-emission, affordable and persistent, our technology will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve ocean protection and facilitate the sustainable growth of ocean industries in BC and beyond,” said Julie Angus, CEO and co-founder of Open Ocean Robotics.
Julie Angus
South Island Prosperity Partnership’s (SIPP)’s Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies (COAST) received $2 million to serve as a catalyst and cluster facilitator for the blue economy up and down British Columbia’s coastline. COAST is filling a gap in the West Coast’s ocean and marine industry by connecting emerging technologies to large industry players like shipping, shipbuilding and defence/aerospace.
“We are grateful to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation for their investment. COAST is on an exciting journey to fulfil our 2030 vision to establish Pacific Canada as a world leader in ocean technology innovations that create scaled economic and environmental impacts. We’ll achieve this goal by bringing key stakeholders together around innovation, export and collaboration, fostering competitive advantages from startup to scale-up, and facilitating access to global market opportunities for made-in-BC solutions,” said Emilie de Rosenroll, CEO of COAST.
BC is home to a growing clean-energy sector and accounts for nearly 35 per cent of Canada’s clean-technology firms.
Other projects included:
Pani Energy headquartered in Victoria, is using artificial intelligence tools to optimize the operation of water-treatment infrastructure, resulting in as much as a 10 per cent reduction in energy use and 10 per cent reduction in chemical use.
Technology developed by Pani will be demonstrated at eight sites throughout Canada, the United States and Asia, creating an anticipated 27 jobs in the near term and throughout the project, including in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as marketing, sales and administration.
Axine Water is headquartered in Vancouver and has 21 employees. The company was created to develop and commercialize advanced electrochemistry technology and was named a 2020 Global Cleantech 100 company.
