The Sea Turbine Produces 3 Million kWh Of Electricity Per Year

The most commonly used method to generate electricity is through dams. However, they are not the solely used hydroelectric power source, another source is the tidal turbines, which have been existing for a period of time though they are not as widely used as the common dams.

Nevertheless, a company in the UK has revealed their plans to construct the most powerful tidal turbine ever.

Orbital Marine Power gave their announcement in September 2017, stating that their turbines produced approximately 116MWh in less than one week. The amount is equivalent to 7% of Orkney’s electricity demand. Following that statement, the turbine hit another achievement of 1GWh in the record amount of time since being initiated, further affirming that their turbines are the dominant tidal electricity generator world-wide at the moment.

Also, they stated that plans had been already established to set up the Orbital O2 2MW at Europe's Marine Energy Center in Orkney in 2020.

The Orbital O2's construction is huge. The generator will have two 1MW turbines, supported by a floating superstructure which is 73 meters long, and rotors whose diameters are 20 meters. With the tidal speed of 2.5 m/s (meters per second), the Orbital O2 is said to generate up to 2MW of electricity. In other words, when the giant generator works at full capacity, it can produce about 48,000 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of usable energy per day.

Orbital Marine Power Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andrew Scott, stated that the Orbital O2 is an economical solution for commercial projects in the future. These optimized turbines will enable investors and regulators to resort to this new energy source and therefore, unlock global tidal markets at a considerable price point.

Traditionally, because there are few places with sufficient tidal forces, it has been more costly and harder to capture tidal energy. Yet, modern technology can make it a new choice for sources of renewable energy.

All in all, dams depend on water flows, solar panels depend on clear skies, wind energy is unstable too. Tides, on the other hand, are unfailing and constant; therefore, it might be the energy source we need. According to the European Commission, 10 percent of the European Union’s power demand could one day be contributed by these tides by 2050.