Falmouth based firm Inyanga Marine Energy Group has opened a new office in Canada.

The firm is aiming to boost the development of offshore renewable energy in the country with the new company, called Inyanga Maritime Services Nova Scotia Limited.

This will be based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and will provide marine engineering and offshore operations support to the marine renewable energy industry in Canada, across both the offshore wind and tidal energy sectors.

Kiley Sampson has been appointed as vice president of the Canadian division and will establish a local team to provide offshore operations and engineering capability in the region.

Richard Parkinson, CEO of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, said: "Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy has been identified by the California-based Electric Power Research Institute as one of the best potential sites in North America for tidal power generation.

"Our ambition is to unlock the full potential of the Bay of Fundy and provide low-cost, reliable renewable energy to Canada."

The Bay of Fundy’s tidal energy resource contains more than four times the combined flow of every freshwater river in the world, with the potential to generate approximately 2,500 MW of green energy.

Nova Scotia is also set to establish a major offshore wind sector including floating and fixed-bottom mounted wind farms.

Offshore wind speeds in Nova Scotia are among the best in the world, between 9 m/sec and 11 m/sec.

Mr Parkinson added: "Recently, a report from the regional assessment committee tasked by the Canadian government to define the offshore wind potential in Nova Scotia was released.

"It describes eight potential development areas for offshore wind that cover a total of 31,200 square kilometres.

"The opportunity for offshore wind is enormous."

Kiley Sampson, Vice President of Inyanga Maritime Services Nova Scotia Limited, said: "We plan to develop a consortium including local Canadian partners to develop, fund and deploy tidal energy capacity in the Bay of Fundy, using the HydroWing tidal energy technology.

"The potential for tidal energy and fixed and floating offshore wind in Nova Scotia is immense and we are poised to seize the opportunity and make it happen."