Wave and tidal power to generate electricity

It’s not a new idea, but until now technology was insufficient to realize wave energy projects in industry sizes.  Long stretches of western coastline open to energy-laden North Atlantic waves and tides make Scotland a very good place for developing wave and tidal power generation systems. The long-lasting marine renewables industry is booming right now, or it will for sure in the coming years. These investments are very capital-intensive they depend on building large wave and tidal power systems on enormous territories that connect into a grid... This is one of the reasons why progress has been limited.

Estimations show that systems built on the west coast of Scotland could produce up to 20 gigawatts and an average of 80 terrawatt-hour per year! Holy cow, that is 1/5 of UK’s total electrical consumption! Hydro and wind take up large portion of installed renewable power sources, including biomass to electricity and biomass heat, Scottish Renewables states in a recent statistic publication.

Major companies invest in wind and solar farms instead of wave and tidal plants. Private investors and large multinational companies don’t like to risk: they stick with something that is working already, no matter what developers of marine renewable demonstrate (like the aforementioned study that would guarantee 1/5 of UK’s consumption from renewable source without the need to sacrifice croplands or meadows!).

It is good to know though, that there are already future plans and alternatives to current-alternatives like wind and solar power (no matter how odd this may sound). These last ones are available for end consumers also like you and me, and if you want to know how to harness them to eliminate your power bill, click on the link found at the end of this article!