[hoseja]

And yet, every other tidal powerplant has been rendered hopelessly useless by barnacles.

[usrusr]

Have they? And how many of them can be ordered to surface under tide power, for easy maintenance access and towing into a maintenance dock without involving expensive divers?

I presume the tether on this would be built long enough for controlled surfacing, a longer tether means larger deadzone between inbound and outbound tide, but there won't be much energy in the flow close to the turning point anyways.

[Sammi]

We are perfectly capable of removing barnacles from ship hulls. What makes these kite hulls different?

These are just fancy boats you know.