Personal Project - Tidal Turbine Redesign

This project began in a very visual way. I was flicking through Knowledge is Beautiful by David McCandless when a single page about the vast, unused potential of ocean energy stopped me. The numbers were staggering. Our oceans hold more energy than we could ever need, yet only a tiny fraction is currently captured. That page planted a question in my mind. What if we could harness tidal energy without blades, without noise, and without harming marine life?

From that point on, I became fascinated by how nature already manages movement in water. I studied how fish swim, how sharks glide, and how marine life moves with the current rather than resisting it. I wanted to design a tidal energy system that followed the same principles. Something soft, efficient, and seamlessly integrated into the ocean environment. Not a disruption, but a companion to nature.

The result was a biomimetic tidal turbine that is completely bladeless. Instead of spinning components, it uses a flexible fin made of TPU, inspired by the shape and motion of a shark’s tail. As water flows past, the fin gently moves from side to side. This motion generates mechanical vibrations, which are absorbed by embedded piezoelectric materials that convert them into electricity. The system avoids rotating parts entirely, making it safer for marine ecosystems.

The turbine takes advantage of vortex-induced vibrations. These natural oscillations happen when water flows around a structure, creating pressure changes that cause it to move. Rather than resisting these forces, the design uses them. Inside the turbine, PVDF, a piezoelectric polymer, responds to the mechanical stress and produces small amounts of voltage. While the power output is modest at this stage, it is enough to run environmental sensors, and it demonstrates that clean energy generation is possible without intrusive infrastructure.

This concept was recognised both nationally and internationally. In 2024, it won Third Place and the Founder’s Choice Award in the BE OPEN Design Climate Action competition. I was invited to present the project at COP29 in Azerbaijan, which was an incredible opportunity to share the idea on a global platform. I was also selected for the UL Sustainability Project 2024–25, where I was given a development budget and support to build a working prototype. Over several months, I tested different hydrofoil designs, piezoelectric materials, and calculated bending angles and flow performance to validate the concept.

The turbine may be small, but its message is big. We often associate energy with strength, control, and dominance. This project reimagines energy as something that can be gentle, adaptive, and deeply respectful of the environment. It is a reminder that nature has already solved many of the challenges we face, and that we can create more sustainable technologies by observing and learning from it rather than trying to overcome it.

Introduction

Ireland has excellent renewable energy resources, which will be a critical and growing component of Irish energy supply to 2030.

One of the resources with a large potential is ocean energy. The European Union, the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Governments have each produced policies in respect of electricity generation which are intended to promote an increase in the amount of electricity being generated from renewable energy sources. One of these sources from which electricity is being generated is tidal and marine energy resource. The Irish waters are very suitable for testing and further development of tidal energy solutions. (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend, 2017). Currently tidal power is behind due to factors like fishing grounds, recreational use of coastal waters and impact on marine life. The challenges also include high setup costs, environmental impact, and limited efficiency due to existing turbine designs. (Sustainability Energy Ireland Report, 2004).

Research on bio-inspired soft robotics and fluid dynamics has shown potential in reducing the ecological footprint of underwater devices. Bladeless designs, such as oscillating hydrofoils, inspired by the undulating movement of fish, have demonstrated efficiency in low-flow tidal environments, aligning with emerging industry trends (Dongxing C, 2022). This project builds on these advancements by proposing a biomimetic hydrofoil system that integrates piezoelectric materials to harness energy from oscillations and vibrations, allowing sustainable energy production with minimal environmental disruption.

Background

Tidal energy is a highly promising yet underutilized renewable resource. Despite its predictability and energy density, development is limited due to ecological, economic, and technical barriers. Ireland, with its significant tidal potential, has begun exploring ocean energy, but faces challenges such as environmental impact, high setup costs, and competition for coastal space.

Three primary types of tidal energy systems exist: tidal streams, barrages, and lagoons. The project focuses on tidal stream turbines, which operate like underwater wind turbines but often harm marine life due to fast-moving blades and complex maintenance in harsh environments.

Case studies like SeaGen in Northern Ireland and Annapolis Royal in Canada illustrate the trade-offs between power generation and ecological disruption. Marine animals have been injured or displaced, and environmental monitoring remains complex and expensive. Newer designs and sites like the Shannon Estuary offer opportunities, but they require non-invasive solutions due to protected species and sensitive habitats.

To address these challenges, the project explores biomimicry and bladeless technologies. By mimicking natural movements and forms — such as fish tails and shark fins — it's possible to reduce environmental harm and improve efficiency. These solutions offer hope for deploying tidal systems in more areas with less impact.

Research from Full Document...

Progress...

Over the course of four months, I explored how to turn a biomimetic idea into a working concept. I began by studying existing tidal technologies and the reasons they fail to protect marine life. I looked closely at how sharks and fish move, sketching early concepts based on their streamlined forms. Inspired by piezoelectric materials, I experimented with flexible TPU fins and embedded sensors, testing how water movement could be converted into small amounts of electrical energy. Each stage of the process involved building, testing, and refining.

From voltage tests to bending angle measurements, I used lab equipment and hand-built rigs to trial different setups. I found that even small oscillations could generate a measurable output, proving the potential of this bladeless approach. It was a hands-on, iterative journey driven by curiosity, testing, and problem solving.

Applications

Integrating the design into tidal energy systems offers a transformative approach to real-time environmental monitoring, addressing current limitations and enhancing operational efficiency. Traditional methods for monitoring water flow and environmental conditions in tidal energy systems often rely on periodic sampling and indirect measurements, which may not capture rapid changes in the marine environment. While technologies like Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) and Coastal Ocean Dynamics Applications Radars (CODAR) are employed, they can be costly, complex, and may not provide continuous, localized data essential for optimizing turbine operations.(Barrick, 1977 & Sea Sonde 2024).

​For example let’s take ADCPs. They are sophisticated instruments that measure water current velocities by emitting sound pulses into the water and analyzing the Doppler shift of the returning echoes, which reflect off particles suspended in the moving water. This technology enables the calculation of water current speed and direction at various depths. Typically, ADCPs are mounted on the seabed or attached to moorings, providing vertical profiles of current velocity. However, they are often expensive, challenging to deploy and maintain, and may offer limited temporal resolution, as data collection can occur at intervals rather than continuously. (Nortek,2024).

In contrast, the design proposed in this report offers a localized, passive, and real-time alternative. This device functions by imitating the lateral motion of a shark’s tail, where tidal flow induces oscillations in a flexible hydrofoil structure. These oscillations strain an embedded PVDF piezoelectric film, which in turn generates electrical signals proportional to the movement. Because this movement is directly influenced by the surrounding fluid flow, the voltage signal output becomes a real-time indicator of water velocity and turbulence at that specific location. Please see the below Figure 38 for a step by step of this proposal.

Thank you

You can also watch the video here: