The energy of moving water currents can be harnessed with tidal current turbines seabed mounted or floating.
The method for extracting energy from tidal streams is approaching design convergence. Horizontal axis turbines have shown to be the most employed technologies. Alternative designs include vertical axis turbines and tidal kites.
The technology is approaching commercialisation, with the deployment of full-scale devices and first arrays in real sea conditions.
Progress in recent years is demonstrated by the operating hours accumulated, capacity deployed and electricity generated.
There is a need for further technology investigation and demonstration for tidal current energy devices in real sea conditions for long periods of time providing invaluable experience regarding performance, reliability, availability, maintainability, survivability and environmental impact.
