Ocean Tidal Power Gets First Commercial Farms by 2028

For the first time ever, wind and solar power generated more electricity than fossil fuels across the entire European Union in 2025. The breakthrough shows renewable energy is winning, but it also highlights a challenge: what happens when the sun sets and the wind stops?

Marine energy might be the answer experts have been looking for. Unlike solar panels and wind turbines, ocean tidal power runs on a schedule you can predict a century in advance.

"You can predict in a hundred years' time when you will have an energy peak," explains Peter Scheijgrond, an ocean energy expert whose company helps develop marine power projects. The moon's gravitational pull creates tides that follow the same reliable patterns, day after day, year after year.

Tidal turbines work like underwater windmills, mounted on the seabed or floating like tethered submarines. One project in Scotland's Pentland Firth has been feeding clean electricity into the power grid for over seven years. Now, the first commercial tidal farms are set to launch off the coast of North Wales in 2028.

The timing couldn't be better. Solar power in Europe jumped 20% in 2025, reaching a record 369 terawatt hours. But all that growth creates a new problem: the grid gets congested when the sun is shining, then struggles when clouds roll in or night falls.

Battery storage helps, but it's expensive and uses lithium that must be mined. Tidal energy offers something different: a renewable source that produces power exactly when solar and wind take a break, without the environmental cost of massive battery installations.

The Ripple Effect

The ocean energy revolution starts small but spreads wide. Tiny wave power buoys already monitor remote ocean areas around the clock, powered entirely by the water's motion. Island communities that once relied on expensive diesel generators are next in line for marine energy installations.

Getting regulators up to speed remains the biggest hurdle. Many officials still don't understand the difference between wave and tidal technologies, which slows down permits and approvals. But as the first commercial farms prove themselves, that's changing.

Marine energy won't replace solar panels or wind turbines. Instead, it fills the gaps they leave behind, creating a complete renewable energy system that works morning, noon, and night.

The ocean has been waiting all along to power our future.