Abstract
This brochure highlights a few examples of tidal current energy projects developed across Ocean Energy Systems (OES) member countries.
Advances in Tidal Current Energy
- The movement of ocean water volumes, caused by the changing tides, creates tidal current energy. Tides cause kinetic movements, i.e., reversing current flows, which can be accelerated near coasts, where there is constraining topography, such as straits between islands.
- The energy of moving water currents can be harnessed with tidal current turbines seabed mounted or floating.
- The method for extracting energy from tidal streams is approaching design convergence. Horizontal-axis turbines have shown to be the most employed technologies. Alternative designs include vertical axis turbines and tidal kites.
- The technology is approaching commercialisation, with the deployment of full-scale devices and first arrays in real sea conditions.
- Progress in recent years is demonstrated by the operating hours accumulated, capacity deployed and electricity generated.
- There is a need for further technology investigation and demonstration for tidal current energy devices in real sea conditions for long periods of time providing invaluable experience regarding performance, reliability, availability, maintainability, survivability and environmental impact.
Markets
- The dominant market for tidal current energy will be grid-connected electricity generation.
- There are also clear opportunities for development and deployment of ocean energy technologies at smaller scale, like islands and remote locations.
- There is also a potential market for technology designed to capture energy from ocean currents (nearly continuous and relatively constant unidirectional flow) and from river currents. Even though the technology to be applied in the energy extraction from these different sources will inevitably have common factors, there will be significant differences
Check out OES' Wave Energy Developments Highlights brochure here.