Tidal Forces

The Moon's tidal forces exert a continuous gravitational pull on Earth’s oceans, generating an estimated 3.7 terawatts (TW) of energy globally.

Of that, about 1 TW is dissipated as friction in the oceans and converted to heat, while the rest affects Earth's rotation and the Moon’s orbit.

While this energy is vast, only a small fraction—currently less than 0.003 TW—is harnessed through tidal power plants, such as those in South Korea, France, and Canada, due to technological and geographic limitations.