Harnessing Tidal Power

Harnessing ocean tides to provide consumers with electricity moved closer to becoming a reality early last week, when the first ever commercial electricity powered by the tides was put on the National Grid in Britain.

The turbine, which belongs to a company called Sea Gen, generated enough energy to power 150 homes, in the initial testing phase. If successful, the turbine will gradually ramp up production to a maximum of 1,000 homes.

Our seas have currents and tides, which produce a tremendous amount of energy. The main barriers to harnessing this energy for electricity, has been the lack of technical know-how and the costs associated with doing it.

Now it seems that the first issue has been resolved. While the cost is still high, the need to find reliable green energy to save our planet has never been so urgent.

While tidal energy is more expensive to produce, it is more reliable than solar or wind energy, because tide patterns are controlled by the movements of the earth, sun and moon, which make them more predictable.

Sea Gen, the company behind the turbine is the world's first and largest commercial scale tidal stream energy generator. The company chose this location near Northern Ireland, because the seas there are known for their strong ocean currents and waves.

The turbine, which is moored to the seabed, 400 meters from the shore, has two rotors one on either side, which are propelled by some of the world's fastest tidal flows.

If this succeeds, officials in Britain are planning to install other tidal turbines around the area, and hopes to produce over 20% of Britain's energy needs from tidal power by the year 2020.

Also, if successful, countries around the globe will follow Britain's lead, making it a win-win situation for everyone.

Sources:marineturbines.com, seageneration.com