Moon-Driven Tidal Power Delivers Electricity to Norwegian Homes
Turns out the sun isn’t the only celestial body that can provide eco-friendly power; the moon is now getting into the game. This weekend, a number of homes in the far north of Norway started getting energy from a sub-sea power station driven by the rise and fall of the tides, which are determined by the gravitational pull of the moon. The power system, which looks like an underwater windmill, will generate enough electricity for about 30 households. “This is the first time in the world that electricity from a tidal current has been fed into a power grid,” said Harald Johansen of Hammerfest Stroem, the company leading the project. Other sub-sea energy experiments are underway around the world but have not yet gotten to the stage of feeding power into the electricity grid. If the Norwegian project is a success, it could pave the way for much wider use of tidal power.
