Is tidal & wave power untapped energy? Many think that renewable energy from tides or waves would be unlimited, but the route for research has been slow and difficult. Most companies have been at it for nearly 2 decades.
The energy from tides is from natural rise and fall caused by the gravitational interaction between Earth, the sun, and the moon. Tidal currents with sufficient energy for harvesting occur when water passes through a constriction, causing the water to move faster. The benefit is that tides or wave power tend to be consistent, with only lapses during peak high tide or low tide. Explore more at Wikipedia
Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station, located in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, is the world’s largest tidal power installation, with a total power output capacity of 254 MW.
- Europe installed
- 2.2 MW of tidal stream capacity in 2021, cf 260 kilowatts in 2020.
- 681 kW of Wave Energy in 2021, up 3x from 2020
- Globally, 1.38 MW of wave energy in 2021
- Globally, 3.12 MW of tidal stream capacity.
- Europe installed 17.4 gigawatts of wind power capacity in 2021.
Multiple Reasons for Slow Progress
- The ocean or water is corrosive and subject to extremes
- Environmental sensitive and subject to stringent EIS
- While technology has been around since 1960, still unproven at scale
- Bespoke – every site is different so difficult to make one size fit all
- Transmission. Most tidal or wave systems are in lower population density areas.
Some Tidal & Wave Power Initiatives
| Company | Country | Year Started | Website | Latest News |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bombora | Australia | 2012 | Bombara Wave | Technology called MWave – air filled cells that drive a turbine. No news since mid 2022 |
| Atlantis Resources | UK | 2004 | Atlantis Resources | Completed construction of MeyGen Phase 1a, tidal farm delivering electricity to Scottish homes. |
| Nova Innovation | Scotland | 2011 | https://novainnovation.com/ | Secured £12.5 million contract for Nova 500 tidal turbine deployment in Shetland Islands. |
| SIMEC Atlantis Energy | Scotland | 2018 (merger of Simec Tidal Energy and Atlantis Resources) | http://simecatlantis.com/tidal-stream/ | Exploring large-scale tidal energy projects in Wales and Northern Ireland. |
| Orbital Marine Corporation | Scotland | 2012 | https://www.orbitalmarine.com/ | Successfully deployed O2, 2MW floating tidal turbine, generating electricity to Scottish grid. |
| Minesto | Australia | 2005 | https://minesto.com/ | Secured A$8.7 million grant for Holyhead Deep project, world’s first grid-connected tidal stream array. |
| Carnegie Wave Energy | Australia | 2002 | https://www.carnegiece.com/ | Awarded AU$8.4 million funding for CETO 6 wave energy project in Western Australia. |
| Ocean Renewable Corporation | USA | 2004 | https://solutionsforenergy.net/ | Operating Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy Project, the first commercial tidal energy project in North America. |
| Verdant Power | Ireland | 2008 | https://verdantpower.com/ | Successfully tested its SR2000 tidal turbine prototype in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. |
| Corpower | Sweden | 2020 | Corpower Sweden | Corpower Ocean – to build and operate wave farms. |
| Eco Wave Power | Israel | 2011 | Eco wave Power | Onshore, also microgrids in Thailand |
| Waveswell (previously Oceanlink & previously Energetech) | Australia | 1998 | Wave Swell | Wave swell got ARENA funding – King Island |
| Tidal Generation | UK | 2011 | Tidal Generation | Secured funding for its next-generation DeltaStream tidal turbine prototype. |
| Blackrock Tidal Power | Scotland | 2012 | Subsidary of Schottle De. In administraion | Developing Blackrock project, a 50MW tidal energy array in Pentland Firth, Scotland. |
A table on tidal power with ten companies who have test or commercial tidal wave solutions with column 1 company, column 2 country, column 3 year started, column 4 website, and column 5 latest news
USA IRA Funding
The USA in the IRA has provided $35m for tidal and wave (CNBC). The U.S. Department of Energy has $35 million to fund “advanced tidal and river current energy systems”.
Updates
New Atlas reported Minestro and their 28-ton, 1.2-megawatt tidal kite which is now exporting power to the grid. They note devices like Orbital’s O2 tidal turbine more or less just sit there in the water harvesting energy from tidal currents. Minesto’s Dragon series are anchored to the sea bed. They fly around like kites, treating the currents like wind.
