The La Rance Tidal Power Station, located on the Rance River, uses tidal turbines for electricity generation. The first tidal power plant opened up in Brittany, France in 1966. The State of Maine also continued to look into ways to generate power from tidal energy. federal government researched tidal energy as a form of hydropower. Early interest in tidal energy was strong in Maine and Nova Scotia, where the tidal range (the difference between high tides and low tides ), and therefore the tidal energy, is especially large. The idea of tidal power can be traced all the way back to at least 1920, when an engineer named Dexter Cooper floated the idea. Proponents of tidal lagoons argue that this tidal energy project is less disruptive to local ecosystems than tidal barrages. ![]() The difference between the two is that a tidal lagoon typically is located on a coastline, trapping coastal waters in its basin, while a tidal barrage is often located on a tidal river or estuary. Tidal lagoons operate similarly to tidal barrages, in that they trap water in a basin at high tide and then generate electricity by releasing this trapped water to run through tidal turbines to generate electricity. Then, as the tide goes out, the tidal barrage releases this water and passes it through tidal turbines to generate electricity. Tidal barrages accomplish this by acting as dams that trap ocean water in a basin during high tide. While tidal turbines tap into the kinetic energy of ocean currents, tidal barrages use the potential energy present in the height difference between high tide and low tide for energy production. The other kind of tidal energy system that taps into the power of ocean currents is called a tidal barrage. This kind of marine renewable energy works best when it’s placed in a location where the velocities of tidal currents are high, so these generators are often put in inlets or straits where ocean currents are naturally channeled. ![]() These kinds of tidal stream generators can be mounted or tethered to the seabed or sea floor, although some varieties of tidal stream generators can actually float. Tidal stream generators are a kind of tidal energy technology that use the kinetic energy present in tidal currents to spin a tidal turbine, which then generates electricity. There are a variety of different tidal energy technologies, but we can break these down into three broad categories: tidal stream generators, tidal barrages, and tidal lagoons. What Are the Different Types of Tidal Energy Technologies? Tidal turbines are just another version of the same kind of power system as wind turbines and fossil fuel -powered steam turbines. Wind energy uses the kinetic energy present in wind to spin wind turbines, which again becomes a source of electricity generation. This steam spins turbines for electricity generation. Natural gas-fired power plants and coal-fired power plants burn fossil fuels to heat water, which then creates steam. In general, turbines are sources of power generation that produce electricity by spinning. Tidal energy projects are capable of energy production through the use of tidal turbines. ![]() But how does tidal energy generation actually work? If you’ve ever been swimming in the ocean and felt a tidal current pulling you, you’ll understand that there’s plenty of energy present in our seas. Put another way, tidal energy is ocean energy. These changes in the ocean’s water levels produce tidal currents, and it’s the kinetic energy of this tidal stream that people have figured out how to use for electricity generation. Thanks to the gravitational pull of the moon, Earth’s oceans regularly swing between low tide and high tide. Tidal energy comes from, well, the kinetic energy present in our oceans’ tides. Let’s dive into the world of tidal energy and understand how it’s generated, where it comes from, and learn all about the advantages and disadvantages of this special energy generation source. Tidal power is a form of clean energy, in addition to being a renewable energy source, and it has huge potential for helping us meet our future power generation needs without the big environmental impacts that so many other energy resources create. One of the most innovative energy sources on the rise in recent years is called tidal power. To meet this demand, we’ve had to get creative about finding new ways to generate power. People consume more energy these days than they ever have before, and energy demand doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
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