Modular, floating tidal energy system passes a key "20

Solar and wind are the stars of the show when it comes to renewable energy, but we're starting to see some exciting progress in turbines that harness the power of the planet's tidal patterns. Looking to leverage all that motion in the ocean is UK startup Sustainable Marine, whose floating tidal turbine rotors just breezed through a testing regime that simulated 20 years of real-world conditions.

The biggest tidal energy systems in action today rely on big and expensive underwater walls, with sluice gates that open and close as the tide changes and leverage the varying water levels to turn turbines. A different approach is to use floating platforms that can be towed out into channels with accelerated tidal flows and moored to the ocean floor. These use turbines attached to massive arms that are plunged into the underwater currents to generate power, and present a potentially far cheaper way forward.

This is the technology used by Scotrenewables Tidal Power, whose 2-MW floating tidal turbine platform managed to generate 3 GWh of electricity during its first year of operation back in 2018. After rebranding as Orbital Marine Power, the company then recently completed the build on a production version of what it calls the world's most powerful tidal turbine, which it says has the capacity to power 2,000 UK homes each year.

This type of floating, towable turbine platform is the solution being pursued by Sustainable Marine, which calls its solution the PLAT-I. It says this 420-kW platform is the first of its kind in the world, with the main point of difference being that its turbines are mounted to individual modules that allows for easier assembly on site, using small support vessels and no heavy machinery. The platform can be launched and towed in water just two meters (6.5 ft) deep, and like Orbital Marine Power's, the turbines are fixed to large arms that can be swung up out of the water for easy maintenance.

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