As I said, we developed turbines for the generation of electricity through water currents, so we currently have two product lines. One is for river currents, so it's a smaller turbine that will sit on the riverbed and generate electricity through the current. The second product line, which is effectively a scaled-up version of our river turbine, would be installed in the ocean to generate electricity from tidal streams.
Our unit looks like a jet engine. It has a set of blades inside a ducted device.
In terms of where I see the shorter term, the five-year to 10-year horizon, I think the most promising applications of our technology, or technology like this, is on the river side. It would be with off-grid or remote-grid communities. These are communities that spend a great deal of money on diesel generation.
A study was recently undertaken to look at the sources of energy generation for these remote communities. A vast majority of them still generate with expensive diesel. I'm told that in Quebec, in the north, diesel generation cost can be as much as $1.40 per kilowatt hour. We see a real opportunity here not only to introduce a renewable energy system, but to introduce one that will save these communities money.
In terms of tidal generation, there are a very few key areas in Canada that have strong tides that do have a real potential to generate electricity. The Bay of Fundy is the most obvious, but it is certainly not the only one.
There is a cost-competitiveness challenge right now. That challenge can certainly be met in the next five to 10 years, but it will take a multisectoral approach from industry, academia, and government.