Abstract
To investigate tidal current in Indonesian sea and to estimate tidal energy, the ocean current was computed using a quasi-three-dimension numerical model POM with NOAA topography data and tide prediction data as initial condition. The mean tidal-current velocity distribution, tidal-current kinetic power distribution, time history of power, and flow direction tendency were investigated. The four focused locations with high power were selected and analyzed. Each of them can produce at least 100MWh or 15kWh/m. More preferable location could be Nusa Tenggara area because it contains many small islands that close each other so the transmission line can be shortened which makes it ideal to develop power plant and then distribute it to local user such as fisherman. In Nusa Tenggara, the highest power can be concentrated at Lombok Strait which has oblique flow direction from northeast to southwest as the effect of ITF and trench contour shape. In future effort, characteristics of 3D velocity field should be investigated at the focusing area and a tidal turbine should be optimized to generate electric power.