tidal power

Coming on the heels of the inauguration of the world’s first commercial scale tidal power turbine, Electricite de France (EDF) has announced that it plans to build a pilot tidal turbine system in the country. The plan calls for 3 to 6 turbines to be built with capacities between 4 and 6 MW by 2011.

Off the coast of Ireland, history was just made. While windpower is taking off, and could soon produce as much as 20% of America's power, harnessing energy from the ocean is still in it's infancy.

But recently Marine Current Turbines successfully completed the installation of the world's first megawatt-scale tidal turbine. And now we've got the first images of the turbine installed to prove it.

The world’s largest tidal turbine, weighing 1000 tonnes, has been installed in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. The tidal turbine is rated at 1.2 megawatts, which is enough to power a thousand local homes. It was built by Marine Current Turbines, and it will be the first commercial tidal turbine to produce energy, when it begins operation later this year.

A narrow channel in Northern Ireland with notoriously strong marine currents is just a little closer to producing electricity with the world's first commercial-scale tidal power turbines.

England's River Severn is targetted for a barrage project - using tidal stream technology - much to the protests of local environmental groups.

You have been greenwashed. If you’re excited about Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) investment in tidal energy, you have been greenwashed. The timing. The PR. The documentation.

Portugal is poised to open what will be the world's first commercial wavefarm, and while the coastline's formidable surf will be a source of electricity, the engineers need a decent "weather window" to be able to get their machinery out to sea. The Pelamis machines, named after the Latin for sea snake, are a series of red tubes, each about the size of a small commuter train, linked together, and pointed in the direction of the waves. The waves travel down the tubes, causing them to bob up and down, and a hydraulic system harnesses this movement to generate electricity.

Professor Jonathan Adler suggests that prize money for renewable energy innovation rather than federal subsidies is more effective. But will it work for marine renewables? Read my post to see my thoughts.