Background

Tides, the daily rise and fall of ocean levels relative to

coastlines, are a result of the gravitational forces of
the moon and sun as well as the revolution of the
earth. The principle of harnessing the energy of tides
dates back to as early as the Middle Ages, when the
phenomenon of tides was not yet explained and were
used to turn waterwheels, producing mechanical
power. A large amount of energy is stored in tides
and it is possible to tap into this renewable resource
with tidal power plants. Tidal electricity generation
involves the construction of a barrage across a delta,
estuaries, beaches, or other places that are affected
by the tides .

Tidal power is a means of electricity generation achieved

by capturing the energy contained in moving water mass
due to tides. Two types of tidal energy can be extracted:
kinetic energy of currents between ebbing and surging tides
and potential energy from the difference in height (or head)
between high and low tides. The former method - generating
energy from tidal currents - is considered much more
feasible today than building ocean-based dams or barrages,
and many coastal sites worldwide are being examined for
their suitability to produce tidal (current) energy.

One method of extracting tidal energy involves building a

barrage and creating a tidal lagoon. The barrage traps a
water level inside a basin. Head is created when the water
level outside of the basin or lagoon changes relative to the
water level inside. The head is used to drive turbines. In any
design this leads to a decrease of tidal range inside the basin
or lagoon, implying a reduced transfer of water between the
basin and the sea. This reduced transfer of water accounts
for the energy produced by the scheme.

Tidal power is classified as a renewable energy source,

because tides are caused by the orbital mechanics of the
solar system and are considered inexhaustible within a
human timeframe. The root source of the energy comes from
the slow deceleration of the Earth's rotation. The Moon gains
energy from this interaction and is slowly receding from the
Earth. Tidal power has great potential for future power and
electricity generation because of the total amount of energy
contained in this rotation. Tidal power is reliably predictable
(unlike wind energy and solar power). In Europe, Tide Mills
have been used for nearly 1,000 years, mainly for grinding
corn.
The efficiency of tidal power generation in ocean dams
largely depends on the amplitude of the tidal swell, which
can be up to 10 m (33 ft) where the periodic tidal waves
funnel into rivers and fjords. Amplitudes of up to 17 m (56 ft)
occur for example in the Bay of Fundy, where tidal
resonance amplifies the tidal waves.

As with wind power, selection of location is critical for a tidal

power generator. The potential energy contained in a
volume of water is

E = xMg

where x is the height of the tide, M is the mass of water and

g is the acceleration due to gravity. Therefore, a tidal energy
generator must be placed in a location with very high-
amplitude tides. Suitable locations are found in the former
USSR, USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, the UK and other
countries (see below).

Several smaller tidal power plants have recently started

generating electricity in Norway. They all exploit the strong
periodic tidal currents in narrow fjords using sub-surface
water turbines.
Basically there are thre methods of operation that can be
performed in order to harness the tidal energy, which are as
follows :-

 KINETIC ENERGY
 POTENTIAL ENERGY
 OTEC

The details of the above methods are given below

Another form of ocean energy is called tidal energy. When

tides come into the shore, they can be trapped in reservoirs
behind dams. Then when the tide drops, the water behind
the dam can be let out just like in a regular hydroelectric
power plant.

In order for this to work well, you need large increases in

tides. An increase of at least 16 feet between low tide to
high tide is needed. There are only a few places where this
tide change occurs around the earth. Some power plants are
already operating using this idea. One plant in France makes
enough energy from tides to power 240,000 homes.

The further categorization of the potential energy are :-

• Ebb generation
• Flood generation
• Pumping
• Two basin model

Ebb method of generation of power from tides

The basin is filled through the sluices and freewheeling

turbines until high tide. Then the sluice gates and turbine
gates are closed. They are kept closed until the sea level
falls to create sufficient head across the barrage and the
turbines generate until the head is again low. Then the
sluices are opened, turbines disconnected and the basin is
filled again. The cycle repeats itself. Ebb generation (also
known as outflow generation) takes its name because
generation occurs as the tide ebbs

Flood method of generation of power from tides

The basin is emptied through the sluices and turbines
generate at tide flood. This is generally much less efficient
than ebb generation, because the volume contained in the
upper half of the basin (which is where ebb generation
operates) is greater than the volume of the lower half (the
domain of flood generation). This is compounded by the fact
that there is usually a river flowing into the basin, filling the
basin as the tide rises and making the difference in levels
between the basin side and the sea side of the barrage (and
therefore the available potential energy) less than it would
otherwise be. This is not a problem with the lagoon model:
the reason being that there is no current from a river to slow
the flooding current from the sea.

Pumping

Turbines can be powered in reverse by excess energy in the

grid to increase the water level in the basin at high tide (for
ebb generation and two-way generation). This energy is
returned during generation.

Two basin method

With two basins, one is filled at high tide and the other is
emptied at low tide. Turbines are placed between the basins.
Two-basin schemes offer advantages over normal schemes
in that generation time can be adjusted with high flexibility
and it is also possible to generate almost continuously. In
normal estuarine situations, however, two-basin schemes
are very expensive to construct due to the cost of the extra
length of barrage. There are some favourable geographies,
however, which are well suited to this type of scheme.

The major draw back of the potential energy method is that it requires large investments
and the environmental impact of this method is large .

What are the current developments in the Tidal

Energy technology?

For many hundreds of years tiny amounts of this energy source have
been harnessed for agricultural purposes. In more recent years various
river and estuary schemes have been proposed where the opportunity
of generating electrical power in close proximity to the energy
consumer is recognised. However with a couple of notable exceptions,
these tidal barrage schemes have stalled due to concerns related to
there environmental impact. Within the UK the Severn Estuary has
been extensively considered as a potential site for a tidal barrage
scheme, the grandest proposal for a 6.8 GW development scheme was
abandoned in 1987.

Within the last decade interest has concentrated upon the offshore
tidal resource with several development teams achieving large scale
prototype deployment in real marine
Kinetic energy (movement) exists in the moving waves of
the ocean. That energy can be used to power a turbine. In
this simple example, to the right, the wave rises into a
chamber. The rising water forces the air out of the chamber.
The moving air spins a turbine which can turn a generator.
When the wave goes down, air flows through the turbine and
back into the chamber through doors that are normally
closed.
This is only one type of wave-energy system. Others actually
use the up and down motion of the wave to power a piston
that moves up and down inside a cylinder. That piston can
also turn a generator.
Most wave-energy systems are very small. But, they can be
used to power a warning buoy or a small light house.

Tidal "wind farms"

A new scheme plans to use turbines simailar to those found

in wind farms to generate electricity via large current areas
Intermittent nature of power output

Tidal power schemes do not produce energy 24 hours a day.

A conventional design, in any mode of operation, would
produce power for 6 to 12 hours in every 24 and will not
produce power at other times. As the tidal cycle is based on
the period of revolution of the Moon (24.8 hours) and the
demand for electricity is based on the period of revolution of
the Sun (24 hours), the energy production cycle will not
always be in phase with the demand cycle. This causes
problems for the electric power transmission grid, as
capacity with short starting and stopping times (such as
hydropower or gas fired power plants) will have to be
available to alternate power production with the tidal power
scheme

The energy from the sun heats the surface water of the
ocean. In tropical regions, the surface water can be 40 or
more degrees warmer than the deep water. This
temperature difference can be used to produce electricity.
The OTEC system must have a temperature difference of at
least 25 degrees Celsius to operate, limiting use to tropical
regions. Hawaii has experimented with OTEC since the
1970’s. There is no large-scale operation of OTEC today.
There are many challenges. First, the OTEC systems are not
very energy efficient. Pumping water is a giant engineering
challenge. Electricity must also be transported to land. It will
probably be 10 to 20 years before the technology is
available to produce and transmit electricity economically
from OTEC systems.

Advantages

• Once you've built it, tidal power is free.

• It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste.
• It needs no fuel.
• It produces electricity reliably.
• Not expensive to maintain.
• Tides are totally predictable.
 • Offshore turbines and vertical-axis turbines are not
ruinously expensive to build and do not have a large
environmental impact.

Local environmental impact

The placement of a barrage into an estuary has a

considerable effect on the water inside the basin and on the
fish. Lagoons, on the other hand, could be used for fish or
lobster farming, adding to their economic viability.

• Turbidity

Turbidity (the amount of matter in suspension in the water)

decreases as a result of smaller volume of water being
exchanged between the basin and the sea. This lets light
from the Sun to penetrate the water further, improving
conditions for the phytoplankton. The changes propagate up
the food chain, causing a general change in the ecosystem.

Pollutants
Once again, as a result of reduced volume, the pollutants
accumulating in the basin will be less efficiently dispersed.
Their concentrations will increase. For biodegradable
pollutants, such as sewage, an increase in concentration is
likely to lead to increased bacteria growth in the basin,
having impacts on the health of the human community and
the ecosystem.

The concentrations of conservative pollutants will also

increase.

Tidal energy is the energy of the future and lots of research

are needed to be done on it and bench marks are to be set
so that the generation of the power form this source is
environmental friendly as well as its economical.