Yes, tide energy may end up being the most cost-effective way to get power out of the ocean. It's not continuous but is 100% predictable, and if the power could be buffered (e.g. charging a battery, or pumping water into a pumped hydro dam) could provide reliable, continuous power.
This RenewEconomy podcast has a brief mention of CCE at about the 34 minute mark. Whole podcast is worth a listen actually - like Origin Energy acknowledging that at current coal spot prices, the marginal cost of producing power from an existing coal-fired power station is around $50 per MWh. This is about the same as the cost of power from building a new solar or wind farm. Of course coal generators will have long term coal contracts at much lower prices, but it's certainly food for thought!
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