Underwater Turbines to Power Our Cities and Industry

Underwater Turbines to Power Our Cities and Industry

Check out this incredible story about a source of electrical generation that is steady, clean, predictable, and never-ending.

The idea is simple:  tidal forces on Earth are perpetual and predictable.  Why not harness the moving water and use it to generate electricity? It’s more constant than wind or solar; after all, some days are not windy, and other days are cloudy.  Water, however, in tidal form, is always on the move.  The concept is to place underwater turbines on the seafloor, either rooted to the seabed or suspended by tether, and as the water moves past them, generate and harness the electricity.  It’s hydroelectric power, but the turbines convert the water movement to power in either direction.

There are currently some studies underway to evaluate the practicality of this.  Tidal power has been studied for many, many years … but that has been on the surface, as the ocean levels rise and fall each 24 hour period.  This concept, however, is below the surface, harnessing the ocean currents themselves as they sweep past the turbines.

Check out this video, from ‘Ideas for the Green Planet,’ which is effective at demonstrating the concept. Note the video is sixteen years old; this is not a new idea, but proof-of-concept since has been highly successful. The video will start and stop at the most relevant section:

And this recent story from CNN.

One such company engaged in feasibility studies is Nova Innovation in Edinburgh.  In their study from 2016, each turbine could generate power for sixty homes.  The next phase in their study features turbines generating five times the power.  And get this: it is renewable, clean, predictable, and constant.

The US Department of Energy is also studying the possibility of using underwater tidal energy.  Their plan is called Submarine Hydrokinetic And Riverine Kilo-megawatt Systems — SHARKS for short.  They are funding eleven projects with a thirty-eight million dollar investment.  The predicted cost of the electricity generated is only 5 cents per kilowatt-hour!  The cost I currently pay, in Ontario, is (numbers rounded to the nearest cent and converted to USD):

Weekend Off-Peak: 6 cents
Ultra-Low Overnight: 2 cents
Mid-Peak Weekdays: 9 cents
On-Peak Weekdays: 20 cents

Their design looks like this:

From the World Economic Forum: “The biggest challenge for underwater turbines is demonstrating their technical and economic feasibility. But if they manage to do that, these turbines could become the next big renewable energy source.”

I thought you might enjoy this look at energy of the future that is not based on land and is not nuclear fission or fusion.  And since my series, The Rise of Oceania, takes place underwater and the inhabitants of the seafloor cities require power, this would be an ideal solution.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 1 May 2025

Sources:

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/07/underwater-turbine-technology-clean-energy-source/

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/24/business/video/nova-innovation-underwater-turbine-spc-digvid

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007

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TSJ’s Awards

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THE WAR BENEATH:  FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister

THE SAVAGE DEEPS:  FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister

FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist

Praise for THE WAR BENEATH

“If you’re looking for a techno-thriller combining Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy and John Le Carré, The War Beneath will satisfy … a ripping good yarn, a genuine page-turner.” — Amazing Stories
“One very riveting, intelligent read!” — Readers’ Favorite
“If you like novels like The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising,
you will certainly enjoy The War Beneath.” — A Thrill A Week
“If you’re here for thrills, the book will deliver.” — The Cambridge Geek
“… an engaging world that is highly believable …” — The Future Fire
“This is a tense, gripping science fiction/thriller of which Tom Clancy might well be proud . . . When I say it is gripping, that is the simple truth.” — Ardath Mayhar
“… a thrill ride from beginning to end …” — SFcrowsnest
“… if you like Clancy and le Carré with a hint of Forsyth thrown in,
you’ll love The War Beneath.” — Colonel Jonathan P. Brazee (RET),
2017 Nebula Award & 2018 Dragon Award Finalist
“Fast-paced, good old-fashioned Cold War espionage … a great escape!” — The Minerva Reader