Since energy output varies with the density of the medium, ( Kg/cm 3 ) and the cube of the velocity, ( m 3/s ), we can see that a 10 mph (about 8.6 knots in nautical terms) ocean tidal current would have an energy output equal or greater than a 90 mph wind speed for the same size of turbine system.
#Tidal turbine generator generator
However, as water is 784 times more dense than air (which is why we can see water and not air), a single tidal generator sitting on the sea bed can provide a significant amount of ocean current energy at low tidal stream velocities which is far superior to wind, using similar or identical turbine technology. While tidal stream installations reduce some of the environmental effects of large man-made tidal barrages, major ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, travel at speeds significantly slower than the wind. These offshore tidal turbines can be either partially or fully submerged beneath the surface of the water, with partially submerged turbines being easier and less costly for maintenance. The generated tidal electricity is then transmitted to the shore via long underwater electrical cables called submarine cables. In fact, in some tidal stream generation areas the sea bed looks just like underwater wind farm with arrays of tidal stream generators covering large areas. Horizontal turbine generators called “tidal turbines” or “marine current turbines” are placed on the ocean floor, the stream currents flow across the turbine blades powering a generator much like how wind turns the blades of wind power turbines. Tidal Stream Generation is very similar in many ways to the principles of wind power generation. A tidal stream is usually stronger nearer to the coast where the sea water is naturally shallower causing the water to speed, than it is farther out in deeper depths. This movement of the tidal range amplified by geographical features along the coastline, focuses these tidal currents into a single predictable and concentrated form of renewable energy which we can exploit using a tidal stream generator. Tidal stream systems extract the kinetic energy (energy in motion) from moving water generated by the tides without altering the environment thereby making it a hydrokinetic energy system.Īt or near the coast, the ebb and flood of the tides causes the oceans waters to pile up resulting in a high tide along the beach, with some of this water being forced into tidal inlets, basins and estuaries while the majority is forced sideways along the shore. Tidal stream generation is a non-barrage tidal scheme, unlike tidal fence energy which uses a physical barrier to extract the energy. Unlike water currents which are a continuous, unidirectional and form a steady horizontal movement of water flowing down a river or stream etc, a tidal stream or tidal current, changes its speed, direction and horizontal movement regularly according to the forces of the tide controlling it.
Tidal Stream is the name given to the horizontal flow of water through the oceans caused by the continuous ebb and flood of the tide, which as we know is the vertical up-down movement of the oceans water. Tidal Stream Generator Can Tidal Streams Generate Electricity
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