---
title: "Ingenious Devices Extract Power From the Ocean’s Tides"
description: "Swedish engineering firm Minesto has designed special gliders that can capture underwater currents by being tethered to the ocean floor."
date: "2021-11-30"
modified: "2021-11-30"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ingenious-devices-extract-power-oceans-tides"
categories:
  - "Computing"
  - "Devices"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "the digest"
  - "tidal energy"
  - "tidal power"
---

# Ingenious Devices Extract Power From the Ocean’s Tides

![Swedish engineering firm Minesto has designed special gliders that can capture underwater currents by being tethered to the ocean floor.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ingenious-devices-extract-power-from-the-oceans-tides.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Minesto\</em\>*

## Electric Kites

Swedish engineering firm Minesto has designed special gliders that look a lot like airborne drones — except that they're meant to capture power from underwater currents and use it to generate electricity, down near the ocean floor.

The company is hoping to deploy the latest iteration, a massive kite some 39 feet across, to provide the Faroe islands in the middle of the Atlantic with renewable power.

It's an intriguing project. Tidal power is an ideal candidate for remote locations, offering up a source of clean energy even when there's no wind or sunshine.

## Tidal Power

The amount of power generated could be a game changer for the small island nation.

"The new kites will have a 12-metre wingspan, and can each generate 1.2 megawatts of power," Minesto CEO Martin Edlund [told the *BBC*](<https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59401199>). "We believe an array of these Dragon-class kites will produce enough electricity to power half of the households in the Faroes."

As of right now, the Faroe Islands still use imported diesel to cover about half of their energy needs, the *BBC* reports. The kites, however, could help the 17 inhabited islands to meet their goal of going net-zero emissions by 2030.

"In an island location there is no possibility of bringing in power connections from another country when supplies run low," Edlund told the broadcaster. "The tidal motion is almost perpetual, and we see it as a crucial addition to the net zero goals of the next decade."

**READ MORE:** [The underwater 'kites' generating electricity as they move](<https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59401199>) \[*BBC*\]

**More on tidal power:** *[Say “Hello” to the World's First Large-Scale Tidal Power Farm](<https://futurism.com/say-hello-to-the-worlds-first-large-scale-tidal-power-farm>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)