5 largest tidal power projects proposed for a green future

Science and technology have changed our lifestyles drastically. In our day to day life for everything we do, machines are the ultimate savior. Our lives are completely dependent on them and we simply cannot do without them. Machines consume fuels, that are derived from non-renewable resources. These resources take millions of years to generate, once deprived. The high rate in consumption of non-renewable resources have led to a world-wide energy crisis. In order to cope up with this scenario, scientists and environmentalists are searching for different alternatives of harnessing energy, which can be used to run machinery and for other purposes. Among those alternative sources of energy, tidal energy plays a significant role. It deals with the harnessing of tremendous energy which rises from ocean tides and divert them into constructive deeds. Moreover, it is a renewable resource, as it is available in abundance and will never run out of stock.

The utilization of tidal energy is a nascent and immature concept, and no technology has been standardized yet. However, various designs have come up and are being experimented with. We will be discussing them in details. Read on.

1. Garorim Bay Tidal Power Station

Garorim Bay Tidal Power Station is located in South Korea, and to be precise, it is between Seosan city and Taean County of Chungam Province. It is developed by the Korea Western Power Company Limited and it was in the month of November 2008, when it was approved by the government. As envisaged, the plant will be generating 520 megawatt-hours of electricity per day (26 MW·h * 20 sets). This will be twice greater than the Rance Power Plant in France, which was supposed to be the world's largest tidal power plant. The construction cost was approximately 1 trillion Korean won (1 billion US dollars), according to an estimation of 2005.

2. Penzhin Tidal Power Plant

The Penzhin Tidal Power plant has been planned to be launched in the Penzhin Bay. This Penzhin bay is situated at upper-right arm of Shelikhov bay and to the north-east corner of Okhotsk Sea. According to some facts about the Penzhin bay, the total area is approximately 20 530 km². The average height of tides are 10 meters, which equals to 33 feet. Taking all the facts into account and after some relevant calculations, scientists have to say that the power plant will have the capacity of producing 115 GW of energy per day and 3.64×1018 J per year, where J refers to joules of energy.

3. Gulf of Kutch Project

The Gulf of Kutch project, when established successfully, will give a brand new recognition to India as the home to Asia's first tidal power plant. The assignment looks forward to the launch of a 500-megawatt commercial tidal power plant, which is supposed to be initiated by Atlantis Resources Corporation in collaboration with Gujarat Power Corporation. After an extensive study made by the Atlantis, the plant is expected to produce electricity up to 300-megawatt. The project has been scheduled to be completed by 2013, and the total estimated cost is approximately US$150 million. According to the CEO of Atlantis, Tidal energy has gone up to that level which was occupied by wind energy 10 years back.

4. Skerries Tidal Farm

To the 3 kms north-west of the Anglesey coast, seven tidal current turbines will be set up , as planned by the Npower Renewables and the Marine Current Turbines (MCT). Each turbine has the capacity of generating up to 1.5 mega-watt of electricity. The area, that has been chosen for the installation of these turbines is called Skerries. The main reason behind choosing this site is because of the strong currents that are available here and also because the fact that it lies in the vicinity of Wylfa power station and the port of Holyhead. According to Paul Cowling, the managing director of Npower Renewables, the Skerries project will open doors to further green power technologies. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2012. Cowling also feels that this project will be a very precious contribution to the UK's renewable resources and it will also help to battle climate change.

5. Severn Barrage Tidal Power

Severn Barrage Tidal Power plant has been proposed, and when completed it will be the perfect tidal power generating station in the world. This is because it will be built on the most appropriate place for harnessing tidal energy, and that is across the Bristol channel. River Severn has a tidal range of approximately 14 meters, an ideal range for generating huge amount of energy. According to plans, the plant will have a 10 mile long barrage or a dam. It is expected to have a total of 214 40 MW turbines, that would generate electricity, and as far as the statistical analysis goes, it will generate 17 billion kWh of electricity per year. The responsibility for making this project a reality has been given to the Severn Tidal Power Group(STPG), which was formed in the year 1981. According to some more statistical data, the project on completion will cut down UK's carbon dioxide emission by 16 million tonnes each year. However, this fact is based on an assumption that Severn Power generating is substituted by coal-fire generating plant. The maximum estimated cost for the complete establishment of this plant is £34 bn.