Tidal turbines

Two British engineers have developed a marine energy device design that they claim could generate substantial amounts of cheap electricity from deepwater tidal flows within five years.

TidalStream recently reported that its turbine platform design - nicknamed Triton - has successfully undergone validation testing at the deep-water test basin at Ifremer in Brittany, France.

The developers believe the model-scale device demonstrates the design is practical for tidal stream capture with major advantages over other renewable energy systems. They point out the UK has half the tidal stream resource of the whole of Europe - the equivalent of several nuclear power stations in energy terms - with no CO₂ emissions, fewer concerns over safety and at a potentially lower cost.

The developers explained a tidal stream turbine works like a wind turbine underwater, adapted to deal with the density and flow rates of water, and would be located in the highly energetic channels close to shore around the north of Scotland, Ireland and England. TidalStream stated its design differs from other attempts to capture power from the sea in that it can generate a large amount of power, 10MW, from a single installation. It was claimed a tidal farm of just 50 Triton turbines could supply the needs of more than 250,000 homes