Tidal power is a type of hydropower that uses the movement of the water that is caused by the tidal currents or, the fall and rise of the levels of the sea on account of the tides for the generation of electricity. It is still not very popular for generating electricity, but has the potential of becoming the future for electricity generation, as it is more foreseeable than solar power and wind energy. The classification of tidal power can be done in the following two ways:

• The systems of Tidal stream make the use of kinetic energy from the currents of the moving water to power the turbines in a way that is similar to the wind mills using the moving air. This method of generating energy is getting more and more popular on account of the fact that, it is not costly and has a very low impact on the ecology.

• The Barrages involve the use of potential energy taken from the difference in the height or the head between the low and high tides. But, the Barrages have a few problems associated with them. The civil costs of the infrastructure are very high in case of Barrages and also, there are very few sites in the world that are viable for them. There are certain environmental issues that are also present with them.

Future of Tidal Power:

The advances in the turbine technology may see the generation of power in huge amounts from the ocean, specially using the designs of tidal stream. The turbines of tidal stream may be aligned in the area of high velocity. Such areas have a naturally concentrated flow. Such a flow is found at the entrances of the rivers and bays or between the masses of land, where there is a concentration of the water currents.

Water is an important aspect of the settlement of human geography. It can be foreseen that the future human settlements will be around water. This increases the importance of Tidal Power.