Demand for electricity is rising but many remote and coastal communities in Canada remain not easily served by major transmission systems and continue to rely on diesel generation for dependable power.
Swordfish Energy says it is developing hydro-kinetic generation for micro-grid applications where reliability is a primary requirement.
The company’s Compeller concept is designed to produce electricity from river and tidal currents, with the goal of supporting renewable, always-available power in environments where extending transmission lines is costly, slow, or impractical.
A 2008 study suggested that the amount of energy which can be captured from waves, tides, and river currents is enough to power millions of homes.
Swordfish’s Compeller is being developed as a laminar-flow system intended to reduce turbulence compared with conventional approaches and as a direct-drive configuration that avoids gearbox complexity.
The Canadian upstart, which views hydro-kinetic power as complementary to solar and wind off-grid, says these design choices are intended to improve durability and serviceability in marine environments, where maintenance access and operating conditions can be challenging.
“Communities should have practical options to reduce diesel use without compromising reliability,” explains Dorn Beattie, chief executive officer of Swordfish Energy. “Our focus is on hydro-kinetic power that can be integrated into real-world micro-grids and operated consistently in local conditions.”
Regions such as Haida Gwaii, where parts of the local electricity system are isolated from the main grid, have long depended on diesel. These are the areas that Swordfish is aiming to transform with cleantech.
In 2022, Swordfish was selected for the Ocean Startup Challenge. Following that, the firm battle-tested its product at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland, and the Compeller been nominated for Prince William and David Attenborough’s Earth Shot Prize.
The company is also a graduate of the Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies’ inaugural Blue Action Canada cohort.
And Swordfish was named in 2025 to Douglas magazine’s “10 to Watch.”
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