The global green energy transition is moving deep underwater for higher power stability.
Worldwide, wind and solar infrastructure have driven the shift toward renewables.
Unfortunately, their unpredictable nature has made it more difficult to address the widening energy gap.
Tidal currents are an attractive alternative to these resources, but have faced scaling difficulties.
Will a better understanding of the world’s biggest tidal turbine help expand the technology in the future?
How some renewables are too unpredictable
The modern transition to renewable energies has been primarily driven by wind and solar installations.
Globally, nations have made massive investments in these technologies. This raised the combined installed capacity past 4,100 GW.
The infrastructure offers highly affordable, emission-free electricity when environmental conditions are optimal.
Consequently, solar and wind have formed the foundation of national decarbonization strategies.
This makes meeting strict international climate mandates that much easier.
However, while capacity may have expanded rapidly, these resources fall short of addressing the global energy gap.
Solar and wind are inherently variable green power sources.
During the night, solar arrays do not generate electricity. In calm weather conditions, wind turbines sit idle.
This unpredictable power generation creates significant grid integration challenges.
Global grids face high instability risks when supply and demand are unbalanced.
As the world’s energy consumption continues to rise, this risk becomes even greater.
Breaking the grid under soaring demands
Over the past ten years, global electricity consumption has reached new peaks.
This trend is set to continue as the Middle East conflict pushes investment toward electrification.
Cross-industry electrification is also integral to achieving climate targets by displacing fossil fuels.
Besides this major shift, massive data centers that power AI applications are also boosting demand.
Data centers require staggering amounts of uninterrupted power 24/7. This has made managing IT hardware sustainably more difficult.
Within the United Kingdom, a higher electricity consumption is directly threatening localized grid infrastructure.
Currently, the UK’s energy portfolio is highly reliant on a mixture of carbon-free sources. Wind power is especially crucial to the nation.
Yet, the UK still depends on natural gas for almost one-third of its output to maintain balance.
Intermittent wind or volatile gas imports are no longer viable options.
For this reason, the University of Plymouth has turned to tidal turbines.
A giant tidal turbine and its powerful current flows
Orbital Marine Power deployed the O2, which is the world’s most powerful tidal turbine.
This innovation can be found in the waters of the Orkney Islands in Scotland.
O2 features a 243-foot-long hull and a 2 MW capacity.
This tidal turbine generates enough power for up to 1,700 British homes annually.
However, the dangerous ocean channels make it difficult to harvest energy.
The currents often exceed 9 mph, which creates high turbulence. It is difficult to map these conditions.
This is why a research team led by the University of Plymouth deployed drones over the turbine.
Tracking the water surface with aerial drones
The drones use specialized high-resolution photography.
Research vessels were simultaneously used to map the deep underwater column.
The combinations enabled precise tracking of how fast-moving currents interact with O2.
The team successfully mapped the turbine’s downstream “wake signature.”
This real-world field data revealed complex current flows that laboratory models could never have predicted.
The drone data effectively bridges the gap between computer simulations and real-world ocean physics.
By accurately mapping O2’s wake, commercial developers can optimize major underwater power grid layouts.
This way, tightly packed installations will not steal energy from each other.
Furthermore, a better understanding of turbulent flow patterns ensures safe wildlife migration pathways.
Developers can precisely shield local habitats while scaling up predictable, reliable ocean current energy.
Anke Maree is a writer with a clear and engaging editorial style. Her work focuses on making complex topics accessible, informative, and relevant for readers across different areas of interest.
