Early Days

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Sicamous, British Columbia, Canada

Sicamous has been used for short term and transient testing for the past 10 years.  It is an ideal location for year round testing since Shuswap Lake does not freeze and there are abundant local facilities and infrastructure for anything from boat repair to tug towing.

Initial development was conducted using a purpose built self-propelled pontoon boat with a mounting hole in the centre and an A-frame hoist.  The initial testing program was modest in that the first order of business was to generate power. Once this was established, optimization of the rotor began, and development of control strategies.  This work was sufficient to begin developing the first demonstration units.  The test barge was later transferred to the Pointe du Bois test site.