Turning of the tides: Assessing the international implementation of tidal current turbines

The excessive combustion of fossil fuels for energy provision have altered natural planetary functions, resulting in adverse biophysical and societal implications. Such implications have prompted many governments globally to advocate for the adoption of renewable energy systems in order to reduce GHG emissions. While renewable energy technologies such as solar and biogases have been thoroughly researched and deployed, tidal current turbines (TCTs) that harness kinetic energy from the lateral movement of the tides are a comparatively emerging renewable energy technology, and thus has received relatively less attention with respect to their potential to supplement the renewable energy transition. This paper examines the physics behind tidal movements and cycles, and the technological operation of TCTs. Environmental impacts and economic barriers are analyzed. Best practices of MSP from world leading nations are examined, along with current deploy-andmonitor-consenting regimes of TCT test facilities. An optimal TCT design is suggested based on a synthesis of information from proceeding sections. Finally, an analysis of the implementation of TCTs in Canada, China, and Norway is presented, the results of which demonstrate that harnessing the accessible and sustainably extractable resource of each nation can result in an aggregate installed capacity of 9076MW through the deployment of 7564 TCTs at a cost of $5,740,964,430, thereby creating 14,467 jobs. This would produce 29,829,711MWh/yr of electricity sold at approximately 22 cents/kWh, eliminating a total of 14,914,855,258kg of CO2e, approximately 0.1%. of the projected global electricity demand for 2016.