ONE problem with renewable energy is that neither the wind nor the sun is reliable. That cannot, however, be said of the tides.
The Newtonian clockwork of sun and Moon can always be relied on. The problem with exploiting tidal power has, rather, been finding places to do it efficiently: bays or estuaries with a suitable tidal reach and a topography that permits a barrage to be constructed. Only then, with established designs, can turbines be installed through which the tide can ebb and flow.
That would change, though, if turbines could simply be attached to the sea floor. And several firms are trying to make it so. Some, such as Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, in Norway, and Marine Current Turbines from Bristol, in Britain, take the relatively simple approach of sticking what are little more than strengthened wind turbines onto the seabed.
In the case of such turbines, though, bigger is better. And, since a turbine is not much use if its blades stick above the surface, that means they need to be located in reasonably deep water. Which is a shame, because a lot of otherwise-suitable sites are too shallow.
Not all wind turbines work this way, though. Some smaller ones are skeletal cylindrical structures whose axes of rotation are at right-angles to the direction of the wind, rather than aligned with it. And that, with the important modification that this axis is horizontal rather than vertical, is the basis for several novel designs for tidal-power generators which can operate in shallow water too.
Engineers at Ocean Renewable Power Company, in Portland, Maine, and Kepler Energy, in London, both use this approach. And Ocean Renewable is starting to commercialise it. In September 2012 its TidGen generator was deployed in the Gulf of Maine. It thus became the first plant to deliver offshore-generated power of any kind (wind, wave or tidal) to an American electricity grid.
Kepler is a little behind, but is hoping to try out a full-scale version of its Transverse Horizontal Axis Water Turbine in the Bristol Channel soon. Its engineers’ calculations suggest this device will generate 50% more power from a given tidal stream that a conventional turbine can manage.
The Latest Bing News on:
Tidal power
- Tidal energy is coming to Alaska. But how much?on May 3, 2024 at 10:19 am
Much of Alaska is empty—of humans, at least. Vast tundra and forest separate cities and villages, dividing the state into more than 150 isolated power grids. The largest of these grids, known as the ...
- Tidal Energy Market to Reach $8.6 billion, Globally, by 2033 at 21.9% CAGR: Allied Market Researchon May 2, 2024 at 8:04 pm
Tidal Turbine, and Others) and Application (Power Generation and Desalination): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the tidal energy market was ...
- Volvo Penta to power first retrofitted electric crew transfer vesselon April 29, 2024 at 8:18 am
The world’s first retrofitted, electric crew transfer vessel will be powered by a Volvo Penta electric propulsion system in an existing vessel, replacing the diesel engines with a 100% emissions ...
- Putin ally makes chilling threat to sink UK under nuclear tidal wave if NATO sends troopson April 29, 2024 at 4:59 am
Russian TV presenter Dmitry Kiselyov - a friend of Vladimir Putin - has warned that Russian would sink Britain below a nuclear tidal wave and reduce the US to radioactive ash ...
- Testing the Waters: Scotland Surges Ahead on Ocean Poweron April 29, 2024 at 12:43 am
Tidal and wave energy may be the largest untapped resources of renewable energy on the planet. But will they work?
- Floating tidal energy turbine company to make waves in US waters: 'This milestone underlines growing global appetite'on April 26, 2024 at 3:30 am
"There are no single or simple solutions for figuring out the complexities of our future energy supply." Floating tidal energy turbine company to make waves in US waters: 'This milestone underlines ...
- Tidal vs. Qobuz: Which hi-res music streaming service is for you?on April 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Below, we compare Tidal and Qobuz based on price, sound quality, and supported devices to determine which platform is better. Tidal’s loss of near exclusivity on the hi-res front is likely the ...
- A 'Perfect Tidal Storm' Is Making This Newly Discovered Planet Glowon April 22, 2024 at 9:25 am
Can tidal forces cause an exoplanet's surface to radiate heat? This is what a recent study accepted to The Astronomical Journal hopes to address as a team of international researchers used data ...
- Tidal vs. Spotify: Which music streaming service has the features you need?on April 20, 2024 at 1:30 am
To determine which platform is better, we compared Spotify and Tidal based on price, sound quality, and supported devices. Spotify has two tiers of service for individual users. The free ...
- US electric utilities brace for surge in power demand from data centerson April 10, 2024 at 8:28 am
April 10 (Reuters) - U.S. electric utilities predict a tidal wave of new demand from data centers powering technology like generative AI, with some power companies projecting electricity sales ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Tidal power
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Tidal power” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Tidal-power generators
- Tidal energy is coming to Alaska. But how much?on May 3, 2024 at 10:19 am
Much of Alaska is empty—of humans, at least. Vast tundra and forest separate cities and villages, dividing the state into more than 150 isolated power grids. The largest of these grids, known as the ...
- Tidal Energy Market to Reach $8.6 billion, Globally, by 2033 at 21.9% CAGR: Allied Market Researchon May 2, 2024 at 8:04 pm
Tidal Turbine, and Others) and Application (Power Generation and Desalination): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2024-2033". According to the report, the tidal energy market was ...
- Testing the Waters: Scotland Surges Ahead on Ocean Poweron April 29, 2024 at 12:43 am
Tidal and wave energy may be the largest untapped resources of renewable energy on the planet. But will they work?
- Wave and Tidal Energy Market Size Projected to Surge $5.1 Billion Growth by 2033, Exhibit a CAGR of 12.5%on April 18, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Wave and tidal energy market size from USD 1.6 billion in 2023 to USD 5.1 billion in 10 years. The increasing demand for renewable sources of energy drives the market's growth. North America emerged ...
- City officials propose construction of world's largest tidal power generator: 'A huge step'on April 11, 2024 at 1:11 am
Officials in Liverpool, England, are proposing plans to build the largest tidal power generator in the world on the River Mersey. The proposed Mersey Tidal Power project, which would help the city ...
- Tidal power dam proposed for Cobscook Bayon April 1, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Credit: Bill Trotter / BDN Roughly a decade after a tidal power project was proposed but never built in the Washington County town of Pembroke, another developer wants to construct an electric dam ...
- Tidal energyon March 27, 2024 at 3:51 am
For tidal power to work, you need a really strong flow ... the tide is used to turn the blades of the turbines. This powers generators that convert the kinetic energy into electrical energy ...
- tidal poweron February 29, 2024 at 9:53 pm
E.ON has been given the green light to build a £60m renewable energy plant on the site of a former coal-fired power station. A commercial-scale tidal generator was connected to the national grid for ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Tidal-power generators
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