The Tides

By: Cole Hartke

Tidal power, also called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy obtained from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power.

Among sources of renewable energy, tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability.

 However, many recent technological developments and improvements, both in design and turbine technology indicate that the total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed, and that economic and environmental costs may be brought down to competitive levels.

For my thesis the use of this unutilized technology will be in full effect on myself sustainable island resort. Off the north side of my island the waves crash hard into the bank, to take advantage of this aspect I propose to add a boardwalk of turbines that line the bank. The reason for this cantilever structure is that the waters around my site are under an MPA marine protection area. This limits any building into the water. Therefore, all structure has to be placed on land and stretch over the water.

This design to the top is what I proposed as a viable option to harness the waters hitting the bank this idea has come from my research and study models to achieve the maximum amount of surface to be hit by the waves to then take that power to spin a hydraulic pump and then those fluids are transferred to a turbine above the water to create electricity.

With enough of these placed along the bank I believe that I can create a viable use for all of the work that it would require to set up the system.