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The cost of setting up a tidal power station can be very high, although once in place the operating costs are low. As an example of the cost of setting up, a proposed 8000 MW tidal power plant and barrage system on the Severn Estuary in the UK has been estimated to cost US$15 billion, while another in the San Bernadino strait which would produce 2,200 MW as a tidal fence in the Philippines will cost an estimated US$3 billion.

idal power is taken from the Earth's oceanic tides; tidal forces are periodic variations in gravitational attraction exerted by celestial bodies. These forces create corresponding motions or currents in the world's oceans

Because the Earth's tides are ultimately due to gravitational interaction with the Moon and Sun and the Earth's rotation, tidal power is practically inexhaustible and classified as a renewable energy resource

Because the Earth's tides are ultimately due to gravitational interaction with the Moon and Sun and the Earth's rotation, tidal power is practically inexhaustible and classified as a renewable energy resource

450 TWh is the estimated yearly potential of electric power that can be produced from tidal energy. In addition to this comes a large and not yet estimated potential in river flows.

Tidal stream generators are very similar to wind turbines except their below the water surface instead of above or on land. The turbine and generator converts the movement of water coming from change in tide, the kinetic energy, into electricity. Water is 830 times denser than air and therefore can generate electricity at lower speeds than wind turbines.

Potential

Wave energy resources are best between 30º and 60º latitude in both hemispheres, and the potential tends to be the greatest on western coasts

While no commercial wave or tidal projects have yet been developed in the United States, several projects are planned for the near future, including projects in the Northwest

first tidal energy turbines

Both technologies require room for periodic ship-borne maintenance and repair access, with subsurface equipment which could impinge on the other facility if they're too close. And if one of the turbines breaks, as happened in 2010 with an earlier tidal turbine in the Bay of Fundy, PC Landing worries it could damage the nearby cable.

This ultimately reduces the cost these power plants can sell their electricity

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. Disadvantages A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build, and affects a very wide area - the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream. Many birds rely on the tide uncovering the mud flats so that they can feed. Fish can't migrate, unless "fish ladders" are installed. Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out. There are few suitable sites for tidal barrages Is it renewable? Tidal energy is renewable. The tides will continue to ebb and flow, and the energy is there for the taking.

Day and night, the vast waters of the ocean press and recede along the shorelines of Earth’s every continent in accordance to the celestial movements of our planet in relation to the sun and the moon

a tidal energy project is moving ahead in Maine, with high costs but high hopes too. But the 180-kilowatt unit that the Ocean Renewable Power Company hopes to put under water next week is really just a first step. The big question is, how well will it withstand the force of the rushing water?

The region, the Bay of Fundy, is famous for strong tides, but the company has picked a spot called Cobscook Bay, where the current is relatively slow, an average of 5.8 knots, or 6.7 miles an hour. That is the speed at which the hardware will produce 180 kilowatts.

Tidal energy is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of the tides into electricity or other useful forms of power. The tide is created by the gravitational effect of the sun and the moon on the earth. Tidal energy is therefore a predictable form of renewable energy, which can be harnessed in two forms:

Tidal power is a means of electricity generation achieved by capturing the energy contained in moving water mass due to tides. Two types of energy can be extracted: kinetic energy of currents between ebbing and surging, and potential energy from the difference in height (or head) between high and low water marks.

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

April 4, 2008 Bristol based renewable energy company Marine Current Turbines has completed the first installation phase of the 1.2MW SeaGen Tidal System at Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough - a site chosen for its combination of fast tidal current and ability to provide shelter from bad weather which may hinder the construction process.