3. Tidal Stream

3.7. Future Potential

Compared with other renewable technologies, there has been a little investment and research into utilising tidal (marine) current energy for power generation. However tidal current / stream energy is one of the most promising new renewable energy sources, and is deserving of further investment. Tidal energy power systems are expected to be very competitive with other conventional energy sources, and excellent cost advantages arise from there being no fossil fuel connected pollution or environmental expenses to remediate (but this has still to be clarified) nor are there fuel expenses (the kinetic energy of tidal currents is free). Furthermore, the knowledge to combine existing technologies to utilise tidal stream energy for power generation is now available http://www.esru.strath.ac.uk/EandE/Web_sites/05-06/marine_renewables/background/marinecurrents.htm#2.

Tidal stream devices offer the greatest potential for learning. As the devices are still a technology under development, further research and testing may lead to design developments that improve the operation of the devices. The devices are modular, and therefore a tidal stream farm will be constructed from a number of identical devices. As more and more devices are installed, experience will be gained through production, construction, installation and operation and maintenance. This will lead to cost savings, and the devices will benefit from economies of scale. This has been observed for other renewable energy technologies; there have been cost reductions for photovoltaic cells and wind turbines as the scale of manufacturing increases and installed capacities rise.