Our tides are driven by the gravitational effects of the sun and the moon on our seas.   In the UK this creates a twice daily rise and fall in sea height.   Electricity can be generated from tidal energy using barrages or dams in places where the tide moves in and out of a bay or inlet, or from tidal streams which drive underwater turbines.

In March 2007 we announced that we're developing a tidal stream project of up to 8MW off the west coast of the UK with Lunar Energy.   The multi-million pound project would be one of the largst commercial scale tidal stream energy plants in the world, capable of producing enough power for up to 5,000 homes.

The proposed scheme will use tidal streams, which are fast-moving currents created by rising and falling tides, to turn an array of large turbines situated on the sea floor.   A tidal stream scheme on this scale will allow us to better understand how to harness the power of the tides.

Why Marine? (PDF, 3MB)