An overview of development of tidal current in China: Energy resource, conversion technology and opportunities

The world has been suffering dramatically increasing energy consumption during recent years. As the biggest developing country, China has a more urgent situation. To highlight the promising potential of renewable energy may be the only solution. Due to the vast sea area and continuous coast line of 18,000 km, China has an excellent tidal current energy resource, which has good prospect for development. In this paper, the development of tidal current in China is briefly reviewed. The description is focused on the tidal current energy resource and the status of conversion technologies in China. Finally, the opportunities of the development of tidal current in China, including the urgent energy situation, the increasing pressure on reducing emissions, national policies for tidal current energy development and the increase of investment, are discussed in detail. A conclusion is made that the tidal current energy ought to be an important option for China in terms of renewable energy.