**5. Malaysia tidal energy information**

#### **5.1 Introduction to tidal energy**

Tides are created from the gravitational pull from the Earth and the moon, creating coastal tidal waters at a different time at the day. This movement of water has an enormous amount of potential energy. This energy is predictable and renewable with low operating cost. Although tidal energy is recognized as one of the promising technologies, the technology currently doesn't exist in Malaysia. There are three main types of tides phenomenon which are diurnal, semidiurnal and mixed tides [27]. Diurnal tides have one high tide every day. Semidiurnal tides have two high tides every day. Mixed tides are the combination of the characteristics of diurnal and semidiurnal tides. Tidal energy can be harnessed through different methods. A tidal barrage makes use of the tides. A barrage looks like a dam, but it's lesser height and very much bigger [28]. The other method would be the tidal stream. It works just like wind turbines, but it's placed underwater using the movement of water created by tides [27, 28]. A tidal lagoon is another method similar to the tidal barrage, but the dam is replaced by a 360-degree enclosure, creating a pool. Water will enter and exit the lagoon due to different water tides.

#### **5.2 Feasibility of tidal energy in Malaysia**

To determine the feasibility of tidal energy in Malaysia, it is required to understand the available tides in Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is no diurnal tides. The North and West of Peninsula have majority of semidiurnal tides while the area of South and East have majority of mixed tides with dominant semidiurnal. The rest of the area of Malaysia has mixed tides with dominant diurnal (**Figure 6**).

The tides differ at a different location and different times of the year. The height of water level between tides also influences the potential energy that could be harnessed. As shown in the below figure, the most potential location to harness tidal energy would be Selangor with height range between 0.4 meters to 5.3 meters when compared to other locations [28, 29].

#### **5.3 Section conclusion**

The tidal energy will always be influenced by the gravity of the moon and the sun. However, it has more advantages than wind and solar energy as it has a more predictable nature with high environmental benefits. Different locations in Malaysia have different tides and it must be considered before installing a tidal power

#### **Figure 6.** *Types of tides available in Malaysia [29].*

**Figure 7.** *Semidiurnal and Dominant semidiurnal Tides.*

plant. Based on the analysis being done, Selangor has the highest potential to harness tidal energy compared to other locations in Malaysia (**Figure 7**).
