Tidal Kite

A tidal kite turbine is an underwater kite, or paravane, tethered to a fixed point on the seafloor that converts tidal energy into electricity as it moves through the tidal stream. Rather than sitting still like a conventional tidal turbine, the kite flies through the water in a figure-eight pattern, and that looping motion speeds up the flow of water through its integrated turbine, letting it generate significantly more power than a stationary generator of similar size. Because the flying motion multiplies the effective flow speed, a tidal kite can operate in slower-moving tidal streams than a conventional turbine needs, functioning in currents as low as one to 2.5 meters per second.