A new energy fund in the UK is looking to improve wave and tidal energy technologies and help put them into use. The new Marine Renewables Proving Fund contains about $36 million worth of new grants.

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A professor and student team have designed a network of modular floating docks to harness clean energy for New York City.

The eco-docks would generate the energy by harnessing tidal power from the city’s rivers; they should also help to add much needed green space above the dirty waters.

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This morning, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced a preliminary permit application sent to the federal government for a wave power project off the coast of California. The project promises to bring wave energy and jobs to the Bay Area.

Power generated from ocean waves has been recognized to be a cleaner, safer, more efficient answer to our energy needs. When the wind blows with enough consistency and force to provide strong and continuous ocean waves, a tremendous energy can be created. Wave power devices extract energy directly from the surface motion of ocean waves or from pressure fluctuations below the surface. Wave technologies are typically designed to be installed in nearshore, offshore, and far offshore locations.

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Water rises and falls up to 12 yards, twice a day in the Severn Estuary. That’s a lot of potential tidal power going to waste, and the UK knows it. Yesterday, the government announced 5 potential schemes to harness the Severn’s plentiful energy.

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One of the world’s leading developers of tidal power will partner with a Canadian utility to develop tidal power technology and associated facilities in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.

Working in partnership with the Canadian company Minas Basin Pulp and Power, UK tidal power developers, Marine Current Turbines will demonstrate and deploy a 1.5MW tidal generator that will be connected to the Nova Scotia power grid.

Scott Travers, of Minas Basin Pulp and Power praised the move as an economic boon. “There is a potential new industry here employing hundreds of people in operations and manufacturing and deployment of tidal power technology, here and globally,” said Travers in a statement.

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The venerable Rolls-Royce, maker of some of the finest motorcars, engines and turbines in the world, will be sea-testing tidal power turbines off the coast of the UK beginning this summer.

According to company officials, Rolls-Royce along with a company called Tidal Generation Limited, will begin trials of a half-megawatt (MW) turbine this summer. Rolls has also entered a separate R&D partnership to build and test a 1 MW version that should be in the water in about 18 months.

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Internet juggernaut Google is moving into the renewables industry in a BIG way. Not only has the giant business been funding green energy start-ups like Aptera and Actacel, it has now filed a patent on a wave-powered data centre that would use seawater for cooling.

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A UK engineer has invented a device that harnesses wave power to pump sea water uphill, from where it can flow downhill to create hydroelectricity, raising hopes of a cheap, abundant source of renewable energy.

In trials, the device, called the Searaser, has pumped water more than 160ft above sea level, using little more than the natural motion of the waves. There are now plans for a much larger version, capable of pumping to a height of more than 650ft.

Inventor Alvin Smith reckons that each full-size device would be able to pump enough water to supply electricity to 470 homes. He also calculates that a fleet of 43,000 could generate enough power for a staggering 20 million households.

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A major tidal power developer has confirmed it is in the early planning stages of developing an off-grid data center in Northern Scotland to be powered exclusively by tidal energy.

Atlantis Resources Corporation and Morgan Stanley said they are in the early stages of planning a tidal power project located in Scotland’s Pentland Firth, reports BBC Scotland. Pentland Firth separates the Orkney Islands from the Scottish mainland, and has huge potential tidal energy resources.

>>More on tidal power at CleanTechnica

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The projects, the first two with 20 turbines each, would be constructed for installation in Pentland Firth, the Sound of Islay and off the North Antrim Coast. The turbines are expected to be 30 meters (approximately 100 feet) in height, with 20-meter blades working at least 10 meters below the water surface.

Sidestepping a major concern common to wind turbines — harm to birds — ScottishPower says, based on tests conducted in Norway, the tidal turbines turn slowly enough to avoid harmful incidents with sea life.

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The location of the site (off Paimpol in Brittany) was chosen due to the extremely strong currents in the area.

While the recently installed SeaGen tidal power system in Ireland was certainly revolutionary, the French plan is as well. France alone has 80% of the potential in Europe for generating electricity from tidal currents—enough to theoretically create 10 million MWh per year.

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Biopower Systems is just one of the wave-energy developers gaining attention by meeting its technological goals and backing this up with investment support.

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