An Alaska-based tidal energy startup, Sitkana, is piloting a new small, modular turbine in the waters off Massachusetts, aiming to harness the United States' vast and largely untapped tidal power resources. Because tides are driven by the gravitational forces of the moon and sun, tidal currents follow predictable cycles — giving tidal energy a reliability advantage over intermittent renewables like wind and solar. The turbine is undergoing testing in the strong tidal currents of Cape Cod to evaluate its performance and durability under real-world conditions, with the goal of determining whether the design can be scaled for commercial deployment.

The potential stakes are significant. A 2021 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that the total energy potential from marine sources in the United States amounts to approximately 2,300 terawatt-hours per year — equivalent to 57 percent of the nation's entire electricity output in 2019. "Even if only a small portion of the technical resource potential is captured, marine energy technologies would make significant contributions to our nation's energy needs," the NREL report concluded.

Despite this enormous potential, the United States currently operates zero commercial tidal power plants. The harsh marine environment — saltwater corrosion, biofouling, and extreme storm forces — has historically driven up construction and maintenance costs, contributing to the sector's slow commercialization. The turbine model now being tested at the Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative's (MRECo) Bourne Tidal Test Site (BTTS) could represent an important early step toward overcoming those barriers.

Unlike most tidal energy prototypes, which tend to be large structures fixed to the seafloor, the Sitkana design is considerably smaller and modular. This approach could simplify installation, scaling, and maintenance — making it feasible even for remote coastal communities, many of which currently rely on expensive diesel generators that require fuel to be shipped in by barge or aircraft. While the BTTS facility is small-scale and exploratory, the data generated there could prove valuable for future tidal energy research and engineering.

"Our goal is to make marine energy easier to build, deploy, and maintain in remote areas," Lance McMullan, Sitkana's founder and CEO, told Interesting Engineering. "This testing is critical as we move toward commercial deployments."

The Cape Cod site, where tidal currents can reach up to four knots, provides an ideal environment for stress-testing the system and generating key design insights. "BTTS is one of the few places where we can evaluate our entire system in one location," McMullan told Offshore Energy. "Beyond measuring power performance, we'll be able to observe operation in a real marine environment and better understand interactions with wildlife."

The implications of modular tidal technology extend well beyond the United States. While the United States and Canada hold the highest surveyed wave energy potential globally, a report from Ocean Energy Europe concluded that ocean energy could supply 21 percent of the European Union's current energy consumption and 13 percent of global electricity demand.

Europe currently leads in tidal energy research and development spending, though the United States is rapidly closing the gap, supported by what the article describes as "substantial" funding programs from the Department of Energy.

The BTTS experiment is one of several innovative tidal energy projects underway in U.S. waters. In the Great Lakes, researchers at the University of Michigan have deployed mini-prototype devices that could eventually supply electricity to island communities. On the West Coast, a research institute in Menlo Park, California, is testing underwater kites designed to generate tidal energy for off-grid coastal areas. Whether these diverse approaches can demonstrate sufficient durability through repeated tidal cycles and seasonal storms will be a key indicator of whether marine energy can transition from pilot demonstrations to a meaningful contributor to the U.S. power grid.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com.