First Commercial Sub-Sea Tidal Power Station

daksis writes "New Scientist is reporting that the first commercial sub-sea tidal power station has gone online in Hammerfest Norway. 'The power station, which resembles an underwater windmill, began generating electricity for the town of Hammerfest. Although still largely a prototype, the generator is the first in the world to harness the power of the sea and be connected to an electricity grid.' If they can make the technology commercially viable, then we'll have yet another weapon in the arsenal for producing cleaner energy."

Comments

Not completely renewable

[tjgoodwin]

I guess if the USA ever adopts tidal farms, future generations can look forward to a president (massively funded by the tide industry, of course) attempting to derail any action over Global Slowing...

tidal power isn't new

[misterpies]

>>the generator is the first in the world to harness the power of the sea and be connected to an electricity grid

That's plain untrue. Tidal barrages -- which use the tidally-driven flow seawater in and out of a river mouth or basin -- have been used to generate electricity for decades. A barrage across the Rance, in northern France, opened in 1967 and has been generating enough power to supply 200 000 homes ever since.