Power Generation for River and Tidal Generators

Renewable energy sources are the second largest contributor to global electricity production, after fossil fuels. The integration of renewable energy continued to grow in 2014 against a backdrop of increasing global energy consumption and a dramatic decline in oil prices during the second half of the year. As renewable generation has become less expensive during recent decades, and it becomes more accepted by the global population, the focus on renewable generation has expanded from primarily wind and solar to include new types with promising future applications, such as hydropower generation, including river and tidal generation. Today, hydropower is considered one of the most important renewable energy sources. In river and tidal generation, the input resource flow is slower but also steadier than it is in wind or solar generation, yet the level of water turbulent flow may vary from one place to another. This report focuses on hydrokinetic power conversion.