Is the world ready for another ambitious ocean power program?

Blue Energy Canada Inc. and World Energy Research are moving quickly in that direction.  After signing a memorandum of understanding last month, the two companies just announced a formal agreement to build a 200 megawatt, half-billion dollar commercial tidal power project based on Blue Energy’s Davis Tidal Turbine.  Meanwhile, DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been quietly working the other end of the scale to develop buoy-sized ocean power generating equipment.

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Few energy technologies fit CleanTechnica’s “Technology Inspired By Nature” tag-line as thoroughly as the University of Michigan’s VIVACE Converter—which as we’ve already mentioned derives many of its innovations from imitating how fish create and exploit turbulent currents.

As adorable and eco-friendly as that sounds, it’s also reassuring for investors and geeks to know that VIVACE has additional foundation in over a century of really hardcore (and phenomenally mind-numbing) mechanical and structural engineering research (i.e. Fluid Dynamics).

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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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Today, the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee approved $20 billion in energy tax credits and related financial incentives as part of the Obama administration’s plan to revive the American economy. Can I get a w00t!?

The tax breaks benefit the wind and solar energy industries and encourage energy-efficiency improvements to existing homes. Other facilities that generate electricity from renewable sources such as biomass, hydropower, landfill gas and ocean currents also qualify for the credit. Facilities will have to be in place by 2012 to be eligible for the credit.

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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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Solving our energy crisis requires serious manpower— and serious incentives. That’s why Scotland has launched the $15 million (€10 million) Saltire Prize Challenge to create commercially viable wave or tidal power.

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Tidal power is already on its way to becoming a viable energy source, but a University of Michigan engineer believes that slow-moving ocean and river currents could also be renewable energy providers.

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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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ScottishPower Renewables will apply for planning permission next year to build the two farms in Northern Ireland’s seabed. The turbines will be manufactured in Scotland in an intentional boost to the country’s green-collar job market.

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The turbine is the first of 300 which the city hopes to install in the waterway. Unlike the typical river which flows in a constant direction, the East River is a tidal straight with strong, fluctuating currents which allow for more efficient power generation. Once in place, the system could provide electricity to 10,000 households.

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Shouldn’t a strenuous run provide something more than a rush of endorphins? Something, perhaps, like power to charge your cell phone? M2E Power agrees. The company, which works with kinetic motion technology, announced plans today to release a portable charger for mobile devices sometime next summer.

The charger, which is the size of a pack of cards, derives power from cumulative motion from walking, jogging, cycling, or driving. Six hours of motion provides 30 to 60 minutes of extra power. And at $25 to $40, M2E’s catch-all charger won’t break the bank.

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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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The world’s first commercial-scale tidal turbine, developed by British tidal energy company, Marine Current Turbines, has delivered electricity onto the grid for the first time. In principle, SeaGen works much like an “underwater windmill” with the rotors driven by the power of the tidal currents rather than the wind.

Conservative estimates suggest there is at least five gigawatts of power in tidal flows in Britain, but there could be as much as 15GW.

The tidal current turbine, known as SeaGen, has briefly generated 150kW of power onto the grid as part of its commissioning work, ahead of it achieving full capacity a few weeks from now. SeaGen’s power is being intentionally constrained to 300kW during the commissioning phase, but once fully operational, it will generate 1.2MW of clean, renewable energy to the equivalent of 1000 homes.

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These systems will reside beneath the ocean surface, out of view, and in harmony with the living creatures that inspired their design.

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