Uses of Tidal Energy – Tidal Electricity the Biggest One

Uses of Tidal Energy

Tidal Energy is one of the many forms of Renewable Energy like Solar, Wind and Geothermal Energy. Tidal Energy is derived from the movement of Waves or Tides due to the Gravitational Attraction of the Earth and the Moon. Tidal Energy is a form of Gravitational Energy which can be used to do Work or be converted in other forms of Energy. Tidal Energy is still an immature technology with advancements in Tidal Energy not as rapid as other forms of Renewable Energy. While esoteric and path-breaking approaches are being developed to harness the freely available renewable wave and tidally energy, the full commercial development is still some way away. On the other hand, Tidal Barrages is a mature technology through its development too has been slow because of high investment and long building time. Here are the uses of Tidal Energy.

Tidal Electricity – Like other forms of Energy, the main usage of Tidal Energy is in the generation of Electricity. Tidal Energy is being used in France to generate 240 MW of Tidal Electricity at very low costs. There are other smaller plants in operation in Canada, China and Korea as well.DOE has located 40 places in the world where the differences between the low and high tides are big enough to generate commercial levels of Tidal Electricity. Note the Power generated from Tidal Energy is reliable as Tides are uniform and predictable in nature.

Grain Mills – Tidal Energy has been used for hundreds of years. Just like Wind Mills, Tidal Energy was used for the mechanical crushing of grains in grain mills. The movement of Turbines due to Tidal Energy was used in the crush Grains. However, with the advent of Fossil Fuels, this usage of Tidal Energy has become quite low.

Energy Storage – Tidal Energy can also be used as a store of Energy. Like many of the hydroelectric dams which can be used a large Energy Storage, so Tidal Barrages with their reservoirs can be modified to store energy. Though this has not been tried out, with suitable modifications Tidal Energy can be stored as well though costs may prove to be high.