The Change Mariner: Tidal Current Into Electric Current

September 20, 2003

Tidal Current Into Electric Current

Yahoo! News - Moon Brings Novel Green Power to Arctic Homes

Homes on the Arctic tip of Norway started getting power from the moon on Saturday via a unique subsea power station driven by the rise and fall of the tide.
A tidal current in a sea channel near the town of Hammerfest, caused by the gravitational tug of the moon on the earth, started turning the 10-meter (33 ft) blades of a turbine bolted to the seabed to generate electricity for the local grid.

The prototype looks like an underwater windmill and is expected to generate about 700,000 kilowatt hours of non-polluting energy a year, or enough to light and heat about 30 homes.

"This is the first time in the world that electricity from a tidal current has been fed into a power grid," Harald Johansen, managing director of Hammerfest Stroem which has led the project, told Reuters.

Posted by Timothy Fredel at September 20, 2003 1:56 AM
Related Categories: Area - Environment | Industry - Energy | Quadrant - Technological

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