Tidal energy, which is also known as tidal power, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides (which are a form of waves) into useful forms of power. The first station for tidal energy was in 1924 by the US Federal Power Commission, which was located in the northern border area of the US state of Maine and the south eastern border area of the Canadian province of New Brunswick.
Tidal Energy – Operational since 1966
The Rance Tidal Energy Station became operational in 1966 and it represents the first large-scale tidal power station or tidal energy plant. Tidal energy in that time had potential for future electricity generation. Tidal energy is easier to handle and more predictable than solar energy or the wind energy. From some rumors, tidal energy has suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges. Maybe this is true, maybe it is not, but the many technological developments and improvements indicate that the total availability of tidal energy may be much higher than previously assumed.
Today, tidal energy is more often used in Europe and in North America. Tidal energy is extracted from the Earth’s oceanic tides, and tidal forces are periodic variations in gravitational forces. These forces of tidal energy create currents in the world’s oceans or corresponding motions. Tidal energy is the only source that draws energy inherent in the orbital characteristics of the Earth – Moon system and of the Earth – Sun system.
Tidal Energy – Generating methods
The thing about tidal energy is that it is important to say that it has three generating methods. The first one is the tidal stream generator, which makes use of the kinetic energy of moving water to power turbines. The second one is a tidal barrage which makes use of the potential energy in the difference in height between high and low tides. Barrages are essentially dams of a tidal estuary. And the third one is dynamic tidal energy (or DTP), which is a theoretical generation technology that would exploit an interaction between kinetic and potential energies. It proposes that very long dams (for example: 30–50 km length) be built from coasts straight out into the sea or ocean, without enclosing an area. This dynamic tidal energy is found in the UK, Korea and China. The first tidal energy station was the Rance tidal energy plant which was built over 6 years, from 1960 to 1966. Then the first tidal energy site is the Annapolis Royal Generating Station, in North America which was opened in 1984 on an inlet of the Bay of Fundy. After 1985, more tidal energy stations were planned near the mouth of the Yalu River. Than the first in-stream tidal energy current generator, called the Race Rocks Tidal Power Demonstration Project (which was in North America), was installed at Race Rocks on the southern Vancouver Island in September 2006. The next development of tidal energy in that period was the tidal energy generator which was built in Nova Scotia. So if you are interested and want to learn what tidal energy is, you could search on the Internet.