Australia is moving closer to becoming a global leader in ocean energy, with a tidal turbine in Queensland pumping electricity into the grid, providing power to homes and industry.

Key points: Predictability of tidal flow offers great potential for power generation, researchers say

Predictability of tidal flow offers great potential for power generation, researchers say Gladstone Ports Corporation planning to install multiple tidal turbines

Gladstone Ports Corporation planning to install multiple tidal turbines Researchers say tidal energy could be perfect for powering remote communities

Turbines secured in free-flowing waters convert kinetic energy into renewable power and are seen as a complementary energy source to wind and solar generation.

Australian companies spent decades trying to find a cost-effective way of harnessing tidal power, with turbine prototypes trialled in Tasmania, Sydney and Japan.

Experts at a tidal energy conference in Perth this week were briefed on an Australian first at Gladstone Port, with a commercial-ready turbine sending power into the city's grid.

It was installed by Sydney-based MAKO Tidal Turbines and company boss Douglas Hunt said there were vast numbers of pylons and piers along the Australian coast that could potentially house pairs of turbines.

"Battery storage need only take into account a four- to six-hour window without power until the tide once again flows and the batteries are recharged," he said.

"But really our focus is beyond Australia. We're already in discussion with parties to put a similar configured turbine in South East Asia and we see that as an enormous market for us."

The predictable nature of tidal flows is the industry's biggest advantage and ports with existing grid connections are considered ideal to host turbines.

The trial in Gladstone is only a demonstration scale project with one turbine, but the Gladstone Ports Corporation has plans to install more.

Sorry, this video has expired A prototype of the turbine was tested in Japan

Gladstone Ports CEO Peter O'Sullivan said they had a tidal range of up to 5 metres.

"It's basically a bit like a propeller, so it's about 2 metres in diameter and as the tide moves through the port it turns the propeller just like other turbines, where steam turns them or water turns them in hydro, so that produces electricity," Mr O'Sullivan said.

The power is then transferred through a cable to either the Barney Point coal terminal or connected to local energy providers via substations and then distributed into the local grid.

"We hope that this may be the start of a long-term partnership so we can continue to grow the number of turbines and look at investing in how this technology may advantage us but also the rest of Queensland as well," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"We know exactly what velocity of water is going to be moving through the port and that means we know how much electricity is going to be produced.

"So unlike some other renewables, where the clouds may come over and interrupt solar or the wind may drop off, every day of the year we can predict exactly how much power this type of renewable energy produces, and that allows a lot of planning, to integrate with other power sources as it can get a full range of dispatchable power."

Mr O'Sullivan said the 2-metre turbine generated enough power to run about one household per day, and could be attached to existing infrastructure for a low cost.

Dr Irene Penesis from the Australian Maritime College at the University of Tasmania, said 1 megawatt turbine could power 600 to 800 homes and as an industry add about 3.2 gigawatts into the renewable energy mix.

As water is much denser than air, tidal turbines are much smaller than wind turbines. ( Supplied: Mako )

Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO, Dr Mark Hemer said Australia arguably had the "largest ocean renewable energy resources of any country in the world" combining tidal, wave energy and offshore wind.

The biggest opportunities were in the north-west shelf and across the Northern Territory, Queensland and Torres Strait where tides could rise and fall as much as 11 metres.

Dr Penesis said ambitions for the turbines go beyond ports and marinas, with researchers looking at remote coastal locations with power issues.

"In Australia where we have a lot of islands that are running on offshore diesel, and to see some of those resources being replaced by renewables, and the tidal resource is one of those predictable resources we should be exploiting more in this country," she said.

No negative impacts detected so far

The Gladstone trial is being closely monitored for environmental impacts.

"So far there's been no evidence that suggests there is any negative impact on the marine life or sites where we've seen tidal turbines being deployed at," Dr Penesis said.

She said while there were still challenges facing commercialisation of tidal turbines, the technology was more advanced than wave generation research.

"We need to understand the characteristics of these sites, to try and reduce some of the costs," she said.

Dr Hemer said industries in Australia's marine and coastal areas were growing three times more rapidly than the rest of national economy.

"[Becoming] a large-scale contributor into the grid will be a challenge for tidal, but it certainly fills a gap and will be a contributor into that final energy mix," he said.