Tidal Turbines: High Potential, High Hurdles

Tidal energy could provide strong, near-zero-emission power by harvesting ocean tides with underwater turbines, but faces steep upfront costs, site-specific constraints, and environmental concerns; tides are predictable but intermittent, so tidal power would need storage or backup and is currently viable mainly in a few favorable coastlines (e.g., Sihwa Lake at 254 MW).