Marine current power

Countries that are interested in and pursuing the application of ocean current energy technologies include the European Union,[4] Japan,[5] the United States,[6] and China.

There are several factors that make electricity generation from marine currents very appealing when compared to other renewables: There are several types of open-flow devices that can be used in marine-current-power applications; many of them are modern descendants of the water wheel or similar.

However, the more technically sophisticated designs, derived from wind-power rotors, are the most likely to achieve enough cost-effectiveness and reliability to be practical in a massive marine-current-power future scenario.

There are three main types of water current turbines that might be considered: axial-flow horizontal-axis propellers (with both variable-pitch or fixed-pitch), underwater kites and cross-flow Darrieus rotors.

In 1974 several conceptual designs were presented at the MacArthur Workshop on Energy, and in 1976 the British General Electric Co. undertook a partially government-funded study which concluded that marine current power deserved more detailed research.

Soon after, the ITD-Group in UK implemented a research program involving a year of performance testing of a 3-m hydroDarrieus rotor deployed at Juba on the White Nile.

In 1992–1993 the Tidal Stream Energy Review identified specific sites in UK waters with suitable current speed to generate up to 58 TWh/year.

[13] The Tethys database provides access to scientific literature and general information on the potential environmental effects of ocean current energy.