A review on tidal power utilization and operation optimization

Tidal power, provided by the gravitational attraction of the moon and the sun, releases massive amount of reusable energy around the world. To utilize this natural energy resource, tidal stations were built worldwide, transforming tidal power into electricity with reservoirs and tidal turbines. This review article summarizes the distribution and current utilization of tidal power around the world, and, particularly, in China. Contemporary tidal power utilization is sketched with a detailed description of several tidal power stations. And then, the major types of tidal turbines in use are introduced including the bulb tubular unit, rim generator unit, cross flow unit etc. Comparing these tidal turbines, their advantages and defects under different circumstances are pointed out and some directions for future modifications are proposed. Apart from raising power transformation efficiency through elaborate turbine design, to further exploit tidal power, the optimization of station operation is also essential. In this article, the operation features of the tidal station are described in detail and the current methods of optimization are reviewed.